On to Richmond (8 page)

             
Robert sensed he should drop it but somehow he couldn’t.  “Carrie believes she has received answers from God...”  His voice trailed off, his mind full of Carrie’s challenge to him.
Ask God to show you the truth, Robert.  If you’re right, there is nothing to be afraid of.
 

             
Those words, when he wasn’t completely occupied with military matters, had haunted him since the night she had uttered them.  It was easy to shove them away when he was busy planning the defense of all he had ever believed in, but in the few quiet moments he had, her voice and her face rose up to taunt him.  

             
He could tell by the look on Thomas’ face that he was frustrated.  He could also tell Thomas was trying to think of something to say.  His words, when he finally spoke, were half-hearted.  “My daughter will come to accept the truth eventually.  She loves you.  I don’t believe she will let this issue keep you apart.”

             
Robert nodded, knowing that Thomas was wrong - and knowing Thomas knew he was wrong.   He could remember the look of pain mixed with determination on Carrie’s face when she had turned down his marriage proposal.  On the long trip to Charleston, he had toyed with the idea of returning and telling Carrie he had changed his mind about slavery.  His love for her was like a burning coal sinking into his heart.  No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t envision life without her. 

             
Two things kept him from doing it.  One was the reality that he couldn’t imagine life on Oak Meadows without the labor and income from his slaves.  It was the only way he had ever known.  The other was honesty.  Carrie, in spite of the pain it had caused, had been courageous enough to be totally honest.  In his more lucid moments, he realized how much her position was costing her as well.   He could do nothing less than respond with the same honesty. 

             
The silence between the two men deepened as each sat, absorbed in his own thoughts.

             
“Mr. Cromwell?”

             
Robert started and turned to gaze at the carefully clad young man standing behind him.  He couldn’t help noticing the anxious note in the intruder’s voice. 

             
Thomas rose to meet him.  “Peter.”  Then he looked at Robert.  “Peter is an aide at the Capitol.”  Then he turned back to the blond young man, barely out of his teens.  “What is it?”

             
“I hate to bother you, sir.   Governor Letcher has called an emergency meeting of the legislature.”

             
“Is something wrong?” Thomas asked sharply.

             
Peter shook his head.  “I wouldn’t know, sir.  I was simply dispatched to find you.”

             
Thomas looked anxious for a moment and then shook his head, laughing lightly.  “There has been no ringing of the Capitol bell, so there is no threat of an invasion.  I’m sure it has to do with little more than figuring out better ways to handle the pressures our fair city has come under now that Richmond is the capital.  We find new challenges thrown our way almost daily.”

             
Robert nodded.  “I’m sure you’re right, Thomas.”  He hid the disappointment he felt about the older man being called away.  Not that he seemed to have any answers about his beautiful daughter.  Robert flinched when he realized how much he had been counting on Thomas to give him some hope concerning his love for Carrie.  One look at Thomas told him his friend’s mind was already behind the columned walls of the Capitol. 

             
Extending his hand, Robert stood up.  “It was wonderful to see you, Thomas.”

             
Thomas looked up from laying his napkin next to his plate.  “Good to see you as well, Robert.  Keep up the good work, son.”

             
“Yes, sir.  I will.”

             
Thomas turned to leave and then as if realizing the condition of Robert’s heart, turned back around.  “Don’t worry too much about, Carrie.  Things will work out.  And right now, all of us have plenty to keep our thoughts busy.  She will come around.”

             
Robert nodded, watched him walk away, and then turned back to mechanically finish his meal.   He knew Thomas was wrong.

CHAPTER FOUR

             
Carrie looked up from where she was sitting behind her father’s massive oak desk.  Hazy sunlight poured in through the tall window, but there was no movement in the still, hot air.  “Are you sure this is what you want to do, Opal?”

             
“Yes, Miss Carrie.”  Opal’s voice was firm without a trace of hesitation.

             
Carrie looked the woman over carefully.  Not too many years older than her own nineteen, Opal appeared much older.  Already the hard labor in the fields had creased her dark face with tiny lines.  Her jet black hair still had a sheen to it, but her shoulders had taken on the familiar stoop of a tobacco worker.  In spite of the hard work, she had also begun to develop a bulge that tightened the waistline of her light blue dress.  Her eyes, normally too tired for one her age, had an unusual brightness to them.

             
Carrie looked back down at the pass she was carefully forging with her father’s name.  “I don’t want you to send any of your wages back.”

             
“Why, Miss Carrie, I’ve got to do that!” Opal gasped.  “What if somebody was to find out I wasn’t sending my wages?  There could be trouble for sure!”

             
Carrie was amused at the panic in the woman’s voice, but it caused her to reconsider.  Finally she nodded.  “You may be right.”  She grabbed another sheet of paper and wrote quickly, stopping every few minutes to think about what she was doing.  Her father had always taken care of hiring out the slaves.  Hopefully she wasn’t making any grave errors in procedure or protocol that would serve as a red flag to those on the lookout for runaway slaves. 

             
Finally she looked back up.  “Here, take this with you.  It is instructions to the manager of the Federal Armory.  He is to send home fifty percent of your income.  The other half will be yours.”

             
Opal gasped again, her eyes widening as she reached out to take the paper with trembling hands.  “I’m actually going to be making money of my own?” she whispered disbelievingly.

             
Carrie nodded gravely.  “It will be yours to do with what you want.  I urge you to use wisdom.  I have heard of slaves using their money to buy alcohol.  Alcohol brings nothing but trouble, Opal.”

             
“Oh, yes ma’am.  I know that for sure.  Ain’t I seen it in Mr. Adams?”  She paused, her dark eyes growing even darker when she thought about the vengeful overseer.  Then she shook her head firmly.  “I’m going to save all my money.”  At the thought of it, her eyes glowed even brighter.  “I’m going to pay my way in the city.  And the rest I’m going to put aside to buy my freedom when the time comes.”

             
Carrie shook her head in protest.  “I’ve already told you - you can have your freedom any time you want it.”

             
Opal seemed to have thought everything through, however.  She shook her head firmly.  “That’s all fine and good when you’re the one in charge, Miss Carrie.  Might not always be that way, though.  Your daddy come home - or send a new overseer - and things could change.  And what if the South wins this war?  Only the slaves who are way up North gonna still have their freedom.  I aim to be sure I can buy mine if it looks like I got to.”

             
Carrie looked at the woman in admiration.  “You’re a very brave woman.”

             
“Nonsense!” Opal snorted.  “If I was a very brave woman, I’d be in Canada now, instead of going to work in Richmond.”

             
When she grew silent, Carrie knew she was thinking about her friends who had escaped with the first group of Cromwell slaves to use the Underground Railroad. 

Then her face brightened.  “Miss Sarah tells me everything always works for the good.  I reckon God let me be a chicken and get left behind for a reason.  I aim to find out what that reason is.”

              Once again the look of determination and - something else - filled Opal’s face.  Carrie was tempted once more to find out what the woman was hiding, but she shook her head, smiled, and handed Opal the pass.  “This will get you into the city.  Keep it with you all the time.”  She heard her voice becoming sterner, but she did nothing to soften it.  “And I mean
all
the time,” she added.  She knew what the city could do to blacks.  All Opal had ever known was the plantation.

             
Opal reached out to take the papers Carrie had prepared for her.  “Yes, ma’am,” she said in a serious voice.  “I know I ain’t never been away from Cromwell Plantation before, but I done heard the stories about Richmond.  I be real careful.”

             
“You’d better be,” Carrie said with a smile.    Her smile faded as she watched another one of her father’s people walk through the door and out of her life.  “Do me a favor,” she called after the disappearing form.

             
“Yes, ma’am,” Opal said, turning to face her again.

             
“If you run into my father, don’t tell him who you are.”

             
Laughter rang through the house as Opal turned and left.

Sam was waiting for Opal in the carriage when she emerged from the house.   She took a long moment to stand on the porch and look over the beautiful fields of Cromwell Plantation.  June had always been one of her favorite times of the year.   The fields, bursting with the beginning of new life just weeks ago, were now covered in fertile growth, the green shoots and stalks straining to see which could reach closest to the sky.  Everything was still a luxuriant green.  There was no strained look to the plants like there would be in another couple of months when they were spend
ing too much energy sucking available moisture from the late-summer ground. 

             
“You comin’, girl?”  Sam asked impatiently as he picked up the reins.  The horses, a matching pair of bays, snorted and shifted in anticipation.

             
Opal nodded but still didn’t move from where she was standing.  She could barely hear the sounds of the children playing in the quarters.  Her mind traveled back to her carefree days before she began work as a field hand.  Unexpectedly, her eyes glazed over with tears.  She was leaving all she had ever known.  To go to - what?

             
“Opal, we’s got to get goin’.”  Sam’s voice was a little kinder this time.  He seemed to know she was struggling with her feelings.

             
This time Opal gave one last look and walked slowly down the steps.  She turned for one final glimpse of the house and saw Carrie watching her from the office window.  Taking courage from her warm smile, she waved slightly and then stepped into the waiting carriage.  Sam gave a gentle cluck, and the carriage rolled slowly down the drive. 

             
Opal was glad she had said good-bye to everyone in the quarters earlier that day.  She didn’t want them to see the tears rolling down her face as the carriage moved through the tall hedges of boxwoods and moved out of sight of the three-storied columned house.  Taking a deep breath, she sat straighter in her seat.  As she faced Richmond, she felt her first twinge of excitement.  Her emotions up to this point had included fear, questioning, but determination.  Not once had she felt excitement - simply resignation that she was doing the right thing and determination to see it through.  She had let fear keep her from going to Canada.  She wasn’t going to let fear stop her now.