Riverbreeze: Part 3 (2 page)

By the fifth day, she added the task of preparing Robin’s porridge—and anyone else who wanted any—and soon she mastered that. She was becoming a regular English housewife much to Robert’s delight and her own. She spent her days with Abigail and Evelyn doing household chores, laundry on Monday and Tuesday, sweeping the floors every day, washing dishes and pots and utensils, and scores of other tasks including churning butter and making cheese. She never complained and tackled every task with enthusiasm and fervor.

After the main meal she spent time with Robin, tending to his burns which were healing quite well, thank goodness, massaging his legs and feet and helping him walk again. Then they would play outside with a ball and the dogs. Sometimes Robert would join them which both father and son enjoyed immensely, and sometimes Evelyn or Abigail would join them, but mostly not. Evelyn had sewing to do, (a few jobs she had taken for women at church), and Abigail puttered around in her herb garden or worked in the kitchen, distilling herbs and flowers into medicinal cordials or flower waters. One day in the future she would take the time to learn these skills from Abigail, but not until she had mastered the art of housewifery first.

Her favorite time of day though was in the evening when she played the virginal while everyone gathered around and sang. Robin especially loved this time, snuggling in his father’s lap and eventually dropping off to sleep while she played a slow, soothing anthem.

And then she and Robert would put Robin to bed, all the while exchanging heated looks, anticipating their own intimate moments.

She thought her life couldn’t get any more perfect.

Well, there was one fly in the ointment and she knew it was petty of her to feel jealous of her sister. But ever since Evelyn had her first lesson in horse riding, she got to ride Jamie’s beautiful horse.

“You’re being silly, Bess.” Evelyn had said to her when Elizabeth told Evelyn how she felt.

“Yes, I know, but when I see you and Jamie ride off together, especially to your secret place, I wish that Robert and I could go off to someplace of our own.”

“I’m sorry.” Evelyn whispered, her voice sincere. “I truly am, but at least Jamie has given you a few lessons too.”

“And I do appreciate that.” She said quickly. “But he’s never offered Robert the chance to take me someplace alone.” She whined.

She knew she was acting like a spoiled child. It was not one of her best qualities. Now that she was a wife and a step-mother, she was supposed to be a grown-up. “Oh, never mind.” She continued, when Evelyn looked at her indulgently. “I understand there will be differences in our lives now. We won’t be given everything equally and we won’t be treated equally any more. I might as well get used to it.”

Evelyn gave her a big hug. “We both need to get used to it.” She said, reminding Elizabeth that there were things that Elizabeth had that Evelyn did not, like a perfectly healthy husband, a solidly built brick house, an adorable step-son and a virginal.

* * *

Even so, it was still hard to quell those feelings of jealousy. It happened again the morning of the last day of November, Thursday the 30th when Elizabeth watched Evelyn and Jamie ride off unencumbered to the monthly muster.

Elizabeth and Robert were going too; in fact the entire household was going, including the dogs! But they were traveling in the shallop loaded down with all the food, weapons and other paraphernalia needed for the day.

Robert wasn’t happy at all about having to go to the monthly muster, but it was required of all males over the age of sixteen. She smiled at her husband now who was concentrating on steering the shallop, a fierce frown on his face. What a sourpuss he was! Elizabeth giggled silently to herself, and then immediately scolded herself in her mind. He had a right to his emotions just like her. If she could be jealous of Evelyn, he could be disgruntled about going to the muster.

Under a clear, beautiful blue sky, they were now headed to Captain Matthew Neale’s property. Captain Neale was the Muster General of Charles City County and it was his responsibility to maintain a militia and instruct the men in the art of warfare and to equip them. For this he received a yearly stipend out of the taxes that all men over the age of sixteen were required to pay.

That morning, during a hearty breakfast, Robert had explained all this to Elizabeth and Evelyn. He had also complained a lot; both he and Jamie as a matter of fact. The brothers felt the same about attending the muster. First of all, it took them away from the plantation and work that had to be done. Before Sir William Berkeley became Governor the muster was held only four times a year, a much more reasonable and manageable situation, but Berkeley was the one to increase the frequency to twelve times a year as part of his orders from the king.

Second of all, they had mixed feelings about being in the militia. Yes, they did believe that the colony needed an army and that every man should be prepared to fight against an enemy, but were the savages really their enemies? The brothers understood that the old-timers who were here for the massacre in ’22, believed that the savages should be wiped out. The men back then had done a first-rate job pushing the Indians far back from the James River, burning their houses and crops, killing men, women and children. But for the past ten years, there had only been scattered incidents of violence, nothing to get all up in arms about, in their opinion. And for the past three years, ever since Owasawas had been coming around Riverbreeze and the brothers had been visiting the Powhatan’s village, they had had no quarrel with the Indians. Nevertheless, it was their duty to attend and drill.

On the other hand, the servants were eager to go. To them it was a break from chopping wood, hauling water, clearing fields and any other back-breaking work they were commanded to do. It didn’t bother them that drilling all day meant marching, target practice, sword play and fighting. No one could miss their cheerful moods.

Abigail didn’t care one way or the other, although she was looking forward to reminding people that she was now officially taking over Beatrice Warren’s practice. A few folk had already come by seeking a potion or two, but if she were to support herself, she needed more customers.

Captain Neale lived down the river from the Bassett’s, about four miles overland but double that if traveling on the river because of the wide curve around a peninsula. Because of the requirement that all men had to attend, they weren’t the only ones on the river. But when they met up with the Crockett’s, Charles, Emily and their two sons, Charles Jr. and Arthur, in their shallop, after exchanging friendly waves, the two men exchanged a silent message and suddenly Robert and Charles were racing against each other.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at Abigail and she smiled back in amusement. They had to quickly secure themselves on their seats, and Elizabeth tightened her arm around Robin’s waist. She also noticed Nathan tightening his grip on the dogs’ harnesses. He whispered something to them, a huge smile on his lips. No one was in any danger of falling out, but they all responded to the extra speed by shaking off their nonchalance and becoming more alert.

Mastering the sail to catch the wind and push them faster, Robert ended up arriving at Neale’s quay first.

He laughed and gave a loud whoop, standing up and punching his fist in the air, not caring that he was making the boat rock precariously.

“I want a rematch!” Crockett yelled back, coasting in second.

“Sit down!” Elizabeth shouted at him, but at least he was happy now. His change of mood rubbed off on everyone else as well. The servants exchanged slaps of their hands and Robin clapped enthusiastically. The dogs barked at all the hubbub.

Robert jumped out, securing the boat. Charles Crockett did the same, yelling, “You got lucky this time, Bassett!”

Robert laughed, thumbing his nose at Crockett in jest. Crockett made a rude gesture in return although it wasn’t made in seriousness.

Elizabeth wasn’t too happy about that, Crockett making that gesture. She didn’t want Robin learning things like that at his young age. From the look on Emily’s face she hadn’t liked it either for exactly the same reason.

Thankfully the boys weren’t paying any attention to their crude fathers. The Crockett boys were waving at Robin and shouting, “Robin! Robin! Hello!” And Robin was waving back, shouting, “Chahs! Chahs! Ahta! Ahta!”

Elizabeth had to suppress her laughter at Robin’s pronunciations of the boys’ names. She waved at Emily, exchanging smiles. Emily had become a good friend even if they only saw each other on Sundays.

Elizabeth then quickly glanced around the large estate, searching for Evelyn and Jamie, but she didn’t see them anywhere. They must not have arrived yet because if they had beaten them, Jamie would have been at the quay to meet them, gloating that his horses were faster than the boat. And then there would have been an exchange of crass insults between Robert and Jamie! Men!

Otherwise the place was already a beehive of activity. Several men were erecting a field tent—Elizabeth wasn’t sure what that was for—and two other teenage boys were practicing drum marches. She recognized the boys as being Hugh and Harry Wyatt, Thomas Paulette’s grandsons. They were taking their job very seriously; their backs were straight, their shoulders square, their faces showing such concentration Elizabeth didn’t believe anything could interrupt them. This surprised her; they never acted like this in church. Their muffled giggles and rude noises often interrupted church services. She supposed they needed activity to keep them quiet.

Gorgeous Nick Bannister was sitting on a stump a few feet from the side of the tent, cleaning another man’s musket while a few others waited their turn for him to check theirs. Others were loitering around, talking and smoking long clay pipes while their wives laid out quilts around the perimeter of the field where they would sit while watching the men drill. Smaller children ran around playing tag or pretended to drill, carrying sticks as their muskets.

During the time that Robert helped everyone disembark and he and the servants unloaded the boat, many more colonists arrived. Elizabeth also noticed that there were three large, three-masted ships anchored further out in the river and there were two row boats ferrying a line of people back and forth to the ships.

“What are they doing here?” Elizabeth asked Robert, pointing to the ships. She put Robin down and he immediately ran to the two boys that were approaching along with Emily and Charles Crockett. “Robin, be careful.” She called, worried that he would fall, but his feet and legs were working fine this day. He was finally wearing long pants instead of a smock. Evelyn had helped Elizabeth alter Robert’s old breeches, the ones that Elizabeth had worn the day she found the Billings’ boy. Robin was also wearing soft, but sturdy moccasins that Robert had made for him out of some beautifully tanned deerskin and a little shirt and jerkin under his coat. Elizabeth thought he couldn’t have looked cuter.

Robert glanced at his son, seemingly unconcerned, and said, “He’s fine. Let him go.” Then he shaded his eyes as he looked out over the river. “Those are trading vessels. The two merchant ships are from England and the barque is from the Netherlands. The barque is the
Seahorse
. That ship has my tobacco on it.”

“You mean you sold your tobacco to the Dutch and not the English?” Elizabeth asked, completely surprised. She didn’t know anything about commerce or trade, but she thought Robert would have traded with their own people, like her Uncle Francis had.

He chuckled. “The Dutch pay a much higher price.”

“Why are people going on the ship?”

“They’re looking at trade goods. Captain Van Dijk has Holland cloth, Delftware, wine—“

Elizabeth put her hand on Robert’s arm. “Cloth? He has cloth to sell?” She asked excitedly.

“Yes.”

“Did you trade for any?”

“No, I wasn’t in need of any at the time.”

“Oh Robert, may I look? Evelyn and I are in such need for material and the Dutch make some of the finest linens.”

Robert never had a chance to answer because the Crocketts arrived then. Both were dressed sensibly. Charles was in dark brown breeches, rough linen shirt, buff coat, felt hat and knee-high boots. He wore a cross-belt with little wooden cylinders hanging from it, containing black powder, Elizabeth knew, and a separate belt pouch contained musket balls. In one hand was his flintlock musket and in the other he carried a large sack, probably filled with their food for the day. Emily was wearing dark colors also, a dress made of brown serge with little adornment and her black cloak. She still had her rabbit muff to keep her hands warm, but Elizabeth had never seen them in such plain garb. Obviously they were dressed appropriately for the occasion.

Charles was grinning. “Nagging you already, is she?” He teased Robert good-naturedly.

“Charles!” Emily chastised her husband in a whisper. She looked extremely embarrassed.

Elizabeth pressed her lips together and crossed her arms over her chest. She did not nag her husband!

“Now, now.” He said, reaching for her hand. Grudgingly she uncrossed her arms and offered her fingertips. He clasped them lightly and flashing a charming smile at her, said, “You know I was only teasing.” He released her hand and addressed Robert. “Right, Rob? You knew, right?”

“Sure.” Robert said magnanimously, even though in truth he hadn’t liked the joke any more than Elizabeth had—Elizabeth could see the flash of anger in his eyes—but he tempered his voice when he spoke directly to Charles. “Even so, she’s correct. I’ve been quite remiss in seeing to her needs in this case.”