Love's Fiery Jewel (7 page)

Surprisingly, the theater had not been affected by the
hard times. A sizeable audience continued to appear
twice weekly, apparently in an effort to put aside for a few
hours the worries that filled the greatest part of the island
residents' days.

If there was one fly in the ointment, it was Marcus
Peters. A small shiver of distaste passed over Amethyst's
delicate frame at the mere thought of the lecherous
overseer of Sheridan Plantation. From the first, Amethyst had been aware of his interest... could feel the
weight of his obvious fascination with her slight young
body. In the last year his interest had become decidedly
more active. He had taken to accosting her unexpectedly,
his large dirty hands mauling her at the smallest opportunity, until she had been forced to flee their last
two confrontations. So far she had been lucky, but her
stomach knotted in fear of the outcome should he
continue to press his advances. She dared not tell Tillie.
There was no one else to send in her place, and she feared
that should she complain to the lofty master of Sheridan
Plantation, he would laugh in her face. Well, she would
have to take it a day at a time, and hope the man would
finally desist in his unwelcomed attentions. Raising her
chin a notch higher with resolution, Amethyst turned on
to the well worn path to the kitchen.

At fourteen years of age, Amethyst was a much
different figure than the one that trod the same paths a
year before. Still not much taller than a few inches past
five feet, her boyish proportions were a thing of the past.
A full, rounded breast now filled the narrow chest and
the still minuscule waist was accented by slight, gently
curving hips. Long, well shaped legs, hidden in the
fullness of her dark skirt, contributed to the graceful
swaying walk which caused her brilliant black curls to
bob enticingly. But the splendid metamorphosis did not
stop in the maturing of her lovely, young body. Still not
at the full height of its beauty, Amethyst's face had
nonetheless lost its childish prettiness and had begun to
show the exciting promise of a more mature beauty. The
fragile, clear complexion remained, contrasted even
more heavily by the widening of incredible lavender eyes,
magnificently fringed in a breathtaking sweep of long
black lashes. Her nose was much the same, short and
straight with classic appeal, but the new delicate
contours of her cheek gave added emphasis to the full red
lips that moved so expressively over perfect white teeth,
drawing the eye to their fullness... tender, potent,
almost overwhelmingly inviting. Innocently unaware of
the formidable power she wielded with one sweeping
glance of violet eyes, or the unconscious pursing of full red lips, she swept open the kitchen door. Surprised to
find a stranger chatting so amiably with Delsea, she took
a small step backward, feeling the intruder.

Both heads turned in her direction and the slender
young man appeared momentarily startled. Tall and fair
complexioned, his hair a rich mahogany color that
matched the color of his eyes, he was extremely pleasant
looking and seemed to find Amethyst similarly appealing.
His eyes moved warmly over her, missing nothing and
stopping to dwell for the briefest second on her soft,
vulnerable mouth.

Smiling widely, Delsea welcomed her reassuringly.
"Come in, Miz Amethyst. Him standing here be Massa
Sheridan, Jr., fraish frem him schoolin'!"

His eyes suddenly widening, William, Jr. exclaimed
surprisedly in a voice that held an appealing richness of
tone, "You couldn't possibly be Amethyst Greer!"

Uncertain how to take his blatant astonishment,
Amethyst nodded politely, "Yes, I am. I'm happy to meet
you, Mr. Sheridan." Her face drew into a small frown of
confusion at the obvious shock her soft confirmation had
produced. Why he should be aware of her existence,
much less appear shocked at the sight of her, was a
mystery!

Awkwardly extending his hand in greeting, William Jr.
shook hers lightly and stammered in response to her
questioning expression, "You must excuse my reaction,
Miss Greer, but I didn't expect the shrewd businesswoman who had contracted with my father for an exchange
of supplies furnished to her by a well known smuggler to
look ...to be..." His youthful face flushing more
deeply to his obvious dismay, the young man dropped her
hand and said with considerable embarrassment, "Suffice it to say, I was taken by surprise." In an apparent
attempt to conclude what was turning out to be a very
awkward moment for both of them, he turned to Delsea.

"I must be going now, Delsea, and I'm pleased to have
met you, Miss Greer..."

Turning toward the doorway, he made a quick exit,
leaving Amethyst and Delsea staring at his fast disappearing back.

Completely unaffected by the awkwardness of the
moment, Delsea said warmly, her old black eyes
following him affectionately down the path, "Him
growed t' be a good man. Him be true boonoonoonoos.
An dem Creole men, dey sure pleasin' fe eyes..."

Amethyst smiled as the old woman raised her brows
expressively and shook her gray head. Obviously Delsea
thought highly of Mr. Sheridan, Jr. She had heard few
white men given the great compliment of being referred
to as "boonoonoonoos" by their slaves. With regard to
the second part of her statement, Amethyst had not
always concurred with the rather prejudiced general
consensus of opinion that creoles, whites born on the
island, were essentially better looking and better natured
than other whites, but if this young man was to be
considered a prime example of his race, Amethyst
suddenly found she might happily agree.

Without further ado, Delsea turned to the larder and
began to fill Amethyst's empty container with milk, and
after she had carefully placed four large eggs in her small
basket, offered her the ritual cool drink before bidding
her another farewell.

So caught up was she in her speculation of young Mr.
Sheridan's abrupt departure while she made her way
along the winding trail to the main road, Amethyst failed
to hear a step behind her until rough arms caught her in a
crushing embrace. Even before she saw his face,
Amethyst recognized the fetid breath of Marcus Peters
and struggled wildly, her strong physical protests
hampered by the weight of her fragile burden.

"Let me go, you fool!" she shouted, suddenly furious that he should attack her when he knew she was least able
to resist.

"Ya weren't expectin' to leave before savin' goodbye
to Marcus, were ya, honey?" he leered, his breath coming
in short, heavy pants as he savored the feeling of her ripe,
young body wriggling against his.

Amethyst's stomach rebelled wildly, and she fought to
control the urge to gag. The man was utterly disgusting,
wretched. And in addition to that, he was unclean, with
unkempt, graying hair, and the foulest of body odors.

"Leave me alone, you filthy swine! Shower your
attentions on some other woman who will welcome
them... if there is any such desperate creature on the
island!"

His face flushing hotly at her insult, he answered by
tightening his embrace, almost stealing her breath. "A
simple workin' man ain't good enough for ya, is he,
princess! Your tastes run more to smugglers and
thieves."

Gasping from the pain of his captive embrace,
Amethyst groaned, "You are a vile man...boogooyagga!"

The whispered native insult appeared to suddenly
inflame his anger and releasing Amethyst with a
suddenness that sent her staggering backward, Marcus
raised his fist to strike.

"You'd better not try that, Marcus!" A low warning
came from a short distance away, and both heads snapped
to the side to see William Sheridan, Jr. swing down from
his horse and walk to stand between them.

"This little bitch!" Marcus Peters raged. "She comes
swingin' her ass in front of me, deliberately tauntin' me,
tryin...

"That's not true!" Amethyst's words were a shocked
gasp.

"...tryin'to get my attention, and when she does, she plays hard to get... She's been askin' for..."

"That's enough, Marcus!" His face flushed in anger,
William appeared barely in control of his temper. "Get
out of here, now! You have work to do and it's obvious
Miss Greer does not welcome your attentions!"

"She was tryin'..."

His face flooding with deeper color, William took a
menacing step forward and hissed, "Go... now!"

Startled by the suppressed violence flaring in William's eyes, Marcus swallowed thickly and without
another word, turned on his heel and stomped away.

Trembling visibly and shocked into silence, the metal
container and basket still in her shaking hands, Amethyst
stared at the retreating figure. Suddenly glancing down,
she saw eggs oozing through the bottom of the basket,
and quickly placing the metal container on the ground,
she uncovered the basket.

"He's broken them.. .they're all broken..."

Her soft, forlorn cry suddenly turned into a deep,
gulping sob, in delayed reaction to the fright of Peters's
unwarranted attack. Dazedly she repeated again, lifting
her gaze to William's concerned face, "He lied.. .he
lied... that terrible man.. .I didn't try..."

Within seconds she was enclosed in a comforting
embrace, her tear-streaked cheek resting against a
sympathetic chest as William whispered soothingly,
"You don't have to say anything, Amethyst. He is a vile
man..." Smoothing the damp tendrils back from her
face as she lifted her eyes to his, he whispered
consolingly, "...and you are only a child."

"I am not a child." A flash of spirit sparked her tearfilled eyes, causing a small smile to move momentarily
over William's lips.

"How old are you, Amethyst?"

"I can understand that you must think I am a child by
the way I have been carrying on, b...but I was frightened..." Swallowing tightly, she pulled free of his
arms to wipe away her tears with the back of her arm in a
decidedly childish gesture, before raising her chin
resolutely and continuing. "But I'll be alright now,
except..." Glancing down again, her eyes came to rest
on the basket of broken eggs.

Sliding an arm around her shoulders, William
squeezed her arm lightly. "Since it was the fault of our
overseer that the eggs were broken, we'll replace them.
Come on." Urging her toward the kitchen, he walked
with his arm around her, noticing that for all her
bravura, the girl still trembled.

"You didn't answer my question, Amethyst. How old
are your

"I'm fourteen years old. How old are you?"

Suddenly laughing, charmed by her audacious response, William smiled a rich, warm smile into her eyes.
"I'm just twenty-one... quite a few years older than
you.,,

"But that still doesn't make me a child," Amethyst
said stubbornly, her violet eyes daring him to contradict
her positive statement.

"I suppose not." William's eyes had gone suddenly
serious just the second before they entered the kitchen to
Delsea's wild exclamations.

Within a few minutes, whole eggs had been exchanged
for broken ones and Amethyst and William walked side
by side to the main road. At the end of the path, Amethyst
turned soberly to William.

"Thank you, Mr. Sheridan. I must hurry home now. I
shall be late and mother will be worried."

"Since I've been calling you Amethyst for the last half
hour with no objections on your part, Amethyst, please
do me the favor of calling me William. We are friends,
aren't we?"

A small smile lit her face and William was once again struck by the girl's selfless beauty.

"Yes, I believe we are friends... William. Goodbye
now."

Suddenly unwilling to let her go so abruptly, William
took Amethyst's arm in a brief, detaining gesture. At her
questioning glance, he dropped it to reach for his horse's
bridle and swinging up quickly into the saddle, extended
his arm toward her.

"Come on, I'll ride you home."

"Oh, no! It'll take you out of your way, William."

"And our overseer has put you behind schedule. Tit
for tat, Amethyst."

His sudden contagious grin sparked her own spirit of
adventure and handing him her cargo to hold with his
other hand, Amethyst took the arm extended to her and
was pulled firmly up onto the saddle behind him.

"Hold on to my waist," and as she slid her arms around
him, William shot a small smile over his shoulder,
"That's right, now hold tight. Here we go!"

With a small jolt they moved from the uneven path
onto the road.

His shirt smelled lightly of soap and sunshine as she
pressed herself lightly against him. Unable to suppress a
small giggle, Amethyst laughed lightly.

"Oh, William, this is fun!"

1781

Walking along Harbor Road side by side, the two
women, alike in so many ways, were still in vibrant
contrast with one another. Both small, slight of build and
conservatively dressed, one was excruciatingly thin,
with an air of fragility that manifested itself most
obviously in her precise, calculated movements. Her
skin, though fairly unlined, bore a pallor that belied the
tropical sun and was indicative of many bedridden days.
The straight brown hair, caught into a neat bun at the
back of her neck, was liberally streaked with gray and
lacked luster. Dull blue eyes shadowed by dark circles
mirrored accurately her state of health. Her general
appearance was that of a fading bloom for which time was
very short.