Ransom of Love (23 page)

“Hello, most beautiful woman in all the world.”

Dorena giggled. “Hello, most handsome man in all the world.”

Benjamin set the brake and hopped down. He rounded the carriage and took both of her hands in his. He looked around to see if anyone was observing them and saw a rider coming down the lane.

“Well, maybe we will have a private moment again one day soon. Is Miss Angeline ready to go?”

“Not quite. Miss Priscilla sent me out to tell you it will be about fifteen or twenty minutes.”

Benjamin flashed a smile. “She can take longer if she wants to … as long as you can stay here with me.”

“I can. In fact, I think my mistress and Miss Angeline planned it so we could have these few moments together.”

“Well, God bless them.”

The sound of pounding hooves caused Benjamin to turn and look at the rider.

“Oh. It is Lewis Moore,” Dorena said in a subdued voice.

“Moore? He is part of the family here?”

“Yes. He is their son. He is not a Christian, Benjamin. He has a mean temper, and he hates black people.”

Benjamin nodded, keeping his eyes on Lewis, who was now guiding the horse directly toward them, a deep scowl on his face.

Skidding the horse to a halt, Lewis slid from the saddle and approached them. He glanced at Benjamin with eyes of malice, then set them on Dorena and snapped, “You go in the house right now, girl! You have no business standin’ out here alone, talkin’ to this slave!”

Dorena stiffened. “Benjamin is not a slave. He is Mr. Zack Johnson’s hired servant. He is here to pick up Miss Angeline, and I have Miss Priscilla’s permission to stand here and talk to him.”

Lewis turned to Benjamin. “You get off the property immediately, black boy!”

Benjamin remained calm and said in a level voice, “I am here by
orders of Mr. Zack Johnson and permission of Mr. Charles Moore to pick up Miss Angeline, and she is not ready to go yet.”

Lewis’s eyes flickered as he said, “Then get off the property till Angeline is ready to go!”

Dorena stepped between them, facing Lewis. “You have no right to order Benjamin off the property when your own father has given him permission to be here!”

Lewis’s face darkened. He looked into dark brown eyes that did not flinch under his own cold stare.

“How dare you speak to me in that tone of voice, girl!” As he spoke, he shoved Dorena aside, causing her to stumble.

Benjamin steadied her, then stared at Lewis. His desire was to put the man down with a solid punch, but he remained outwardly calm. “It bothers me when a man treats a lady as you just did Miss Dorena.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, just what are you gonna do about it, slave man?”

“I will spare you this time. Do not treat her roughly again. Since I have Mr. Charles’s permission to be here, and since I have orders from my employer to pick up his daughter, I will stay where I am until Miss Angeline is ready to go.”

“Listen, you! Who do you think you’re talkin’ to? I—”

“Lewis,” came Priscilla’s voice as she and Angeline walked outside, “what is going on out here?” Moving across the porch, she said, “Did Dorena introduce you to Benjamin?”

Lewis scowled. “Don’t patronize me. This slave and I haven’t been formally introduced, and I’m not interested in it happenin’.”

Priscilla flashed him a look, then turned and hugged Angeline, saying, “It’s been a wonderful day.”

“Thank you for making it so,” Angeline said. She embraced Dorena. “See you at church on Sunday.”

“You sure will,” Dorena said, smiling at her.

As Benjamin was helping Angeline into the carriage, Lewis stepped up behind him and growled, “I don’t want you on this property again, black boy. You’re not welcome here.”

“Don’t pay any attention to him,” Priscilla said. “You are very welcome here, Benjamin.”

Lewis turned to face his sister. “Now look, Priscilla. Don’t you contradict me!”

“Mind your own business, Lewis! Benjamin’s coming here is none of your affair. You don’t own this plantation. Stay out of it.”

“Don’t tell me to stay out of it, Priscilla. I’m sick of these lowly slaves tryin’ to act like they’re as good as white people! They’re nothin’ more than—”

Priscilla arched her back. “Don’t you say it, Lewis Moore!”

Charles Moore bolted through the mansion’s front door. “Hey! Stop that arguing right now!”

Priscilla and her brother glared at each other, then looked at their father.

“Your mother and I could hear you two shouting at each other from the back of the house. What are you arguing about?”

“I’ll tell you what we’re arguin’ about, Pa,” said Lewis. “It’s—”

Charles threw up a palm. “Just a minute! Let your sister tell me.”

“He’s just acting the fool as usual, Papa. He had the audacity to tell Benjamin to get off the property and not come back. I told him Benjamin’s being here is none of his business. He started in again about black people thinking they are as good as white people, and he was about to call them animals again. That’s what we were arguing about.”

Charles looked at Lewis with disapproval. “Where did you get the idea you can overrule my authority? Benjamin is here because I invited him here. Now, you take your horse to the barn immediately.”

Lewis gave his sister a sullen glance and went to his horse and swung aboard, then trotted away.

Charles turned to Benjamin. “I am truly sorry for my son’s behavior.”

“I am, too,” said Priscilla. “Please understand that Lewis is the only one in the family who carries this ill feeling toward Negroes.”

Benjamin smiled. “I know that, Miss Priscilla.” He turned to Angeline. “Well, Miss Angeline, it is getting dark. I need to get you home.”

As Benjamin helped her into the carriage, he gave Dorena a smile that made her heart flutter.

Two weeks later, when Benjamin drove the carriage up to the front porch of the Moore mansion, Angeline and Priscilla were waiting for him. As Benjamin hopped out to help Angeline in, he looked around and said, “Is Dorena where I can see her?”

“She will be here in a minute or two, Benjamin,” Priscilla said. “She asked Papa for permission to take you back to her parents’ cabin to meet them, along with her brother. Papa said it would be all right.”

“Oh, good! I would love to meet them.”

Even as he was speaking, Dorena came around the corner of the mansion and hurried toward him.

“I told him,” Priscilla said.

Dorena’s big brown eyes fastened on Benjamin.

“They are ready,” she said, extending her hand toward him. When he took it, she looked at Angeline and said, “I won’t keep him long.”

Angeline giggled. “I’m sure you would like to.”

Dorena blushed and hurried away, holding Benjamin by the hand.

Priscilla watched them go, then sighed. “They are such a handsome couple. It just has to be that the Lord will make a way for them to have a life together.”

“I’m sure He will,” said Angeline. “A love like theirs came from the Lord. They are His children, and He has a plan for their lives.”

The two girls talked about the pleasant day they had spent together, and before twenty minutes had passed, they saw the couple come around the corner of the mansion, holding hands.

“So … how did it go?” Priscilla called.

“Wonderful!” said Dorena. “Mama and Papa were very warm toward him. They told him that all I talk about is him.”

“Well, isn’t it?” Priscilla said, laughing.

“Most of the time, anyway. And Matthew really likes him, too. I think they are going to be good friends.”

“That’s good,” said Angeline. “They are only a year apart in age, aren’t they?”

Dorena nodded. “Fifteen months, to be exact.”

Benjamin looked into Dorena’s eyes. “I must take Miss Angeline home now. I will see you again very soon.”

“You don’t have to make it soon at all!” came Lewis’s voice. “In fact, black boy, if you didn’t show up around here at all, it would be a good thing!”

“Lewis!” Priscilla said. “Can’t you be civil? What did Benjamin ever do to you?”

“He brought his black skin on this plantation! That’s what he did!”

Benjamin had a powerful desire to coldcock Priscilla’s brash and insolent brother, but he refrained for Dorena’s sake.

One hot afternoon in early August, Benjamin was repairing a stretch of white fence where the lane met the road. While hammering nails into a new length of wood, he heard a familiar voice say, “Need some help there, my friend?”

Benjamin looked up and smiled. “I could get it done faster with some help.”

“I’m really not looking for work, you understand,” Dan Johnson said. “But you and I haven’t had much time together the past six or seven weeks. Thought maybe if I volunteered to help, we could at least talk to each other for a while.”

“I would like that. You don’t have to help. Just stand there and talk to me.”

“Couldn’t do that,” said Dan, moving close to him. “Here, let me hold that board while you finish nailing it.”

While they worked together, Benjamin said, “What about your Texas plans?”

“Still in the making. I’m just waiting on the Lord to let me know when it’s His time for me to go. I thought I’d be there by now, but I don’t want to get ahead of the Lord.”

“Well, I will be glad to have you here as long as possible.”

Dan gave his friend a wry smile. “Say, I’ve been hearing things around the house.”

“About what?”

“About you.”

“Me? What about me?”

“My little sister told me a month or so ago that things were looking pretty serious between you and Dorena. And of late, she said there’s no question that you two have fallen for each other.”

Benjamin grinned. “Oh, she did, huh?”

“Yeah. Now, come on. Is it so?”

Benjamin hit the last nail, then ran a sleeve across his sweaty brow. “Yes, Mr. Dan. It is so. She is the most wonderful girl I have ever met in my life. She is the most beautiful girl God ever made, and she is a sweet, dedicated Christian. What more could I ask for?”

“I can’t think of anything. Sounds like she has really captured your heart.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, I think it’s wonderful.”

Benjamin looked at the paint bucket sitting on the ground and reached for the brush. While he was opening the lid on the paint can, he said, “Mr. Dan, while we’re talking about Dorena and me … what about you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve never heard you say anything about a sweetheart or young lady in your life.”

Dan scratched behind his ear. “Well, Benjamin, I date some of
the young ladies in the church, but there’s no sweetheart … no special one. The ones I date are nice girls, but none of them strike me as marriage material. I figure the Lord has the right girl for me out there in Texas.”

Benjamin nodded. “Since the Lord seems to be leading you there, Mr. Dan, He no doubt has her waiting for you to walk into her life.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“I can say that it sure feels good to have found the right girl for me, Mr. Dan, but I have to let the Lord work it out so we can marry one day.”

“It will take the Lord to work it out, since you’re a free man and Dorena is a slave.”

“Yes, sir. I know there are strict rules about that. Slaves have to marry slaves, and they have to marry slaves owned by their masters.”

“Mm-hmm. It’s been that way since slaves were first brought to this country. And the only way a free man could ever marry a slave girl is to buy her from her owner.”

“Yes. I have thought of that. In our case, Mr. Charles Moore would have to be willing to sell Dorena to me … if I had that much money. Which I do not. It definitely will take the hand of the Lord to bring it to pass.”

Dan nodded. “Especially because Dorena is Priscilla’s slave. She will not be for sale.”

“I have talked a lot to the Lord about that, Mr. Dan. And in my heart, I know He is going to work it out. Just how and when, I have no idea. Dorena and I will have to wait on Him. Sort of like you are waiting on Him to tell you when it is time to go to Texas.”

“Right,” said Dan. “But the Lord loves you and Dorena, Benjamin. And in spite of every rule and obstacle, when it is His time for the two of you to marry, He will work it out.”

Benjamin smiled at his friend. “Thank you, Mr. Dan. You are a real encouragement to me.”

“I sure want to be. The Lord may test your faith and your faithfulness,
Benjamin. But just remember … with God, all things are possible.”

At the Colvin plantation, another slave was dead from a beating.

All the slaves were in attendance at the burial service, as were Finn, Martha, and Edward Colvin. This time, none of the neighbors had been informed.

After Ol’ Mose had preached the message at the graveside, and the fragile coffin had been lowered into the ground, he stood alone over the fresh mound, his heart heavy.

Tears rolled down Ol’ Mose’s cheeks as he thought of Jecholia, whose body now lay six feet in the ground. Jecholia had been nearly seventy years old, and his health had been failing. Slaves who witnessed it said that Jecholia was beaten to death by Edward Colvin.

Raising his tired eyes heavenward, Mose said in his worn and cracked voice, “Heavenly Father, I know You never make a mistake. But in this old man’s human heart, it is so hard to understand the hatred of one man fo’ another. As You know, I have stood by fo’ so many years and watched Master Finn put this unfair and humiliatin’ treatment on his slaves. Lord, I don’t understand how You can let it go on. It is almost more than this old man can bear.”

Almost at once, conviction assailed his heart. He bowed his head low. “Please forgive me, Lord. I don’t mean to say that You are wrong because You allow this mistreatment to go on. You are a kind and loving God. It’s just that this ol’ slave preacher is mortal, and there are things he doesn’t grasp.

“Help me to trust You completely and to remember that You have a way of doin’ things that Ol’ Mose doesn’t always understand. Help me to be the witness fo’ Jesus I ought to be, and to always remember that Your grace is sufficient. In Your time, all will be made right. I know You are workin’ out that which is best fo’ Your children here on this plantation.”