A Charitable Call
Seen from the great house, the wattle and daub houses had a picturesque charm that did not survive closer inspection. To be sure, the vegetable plots surrounding them lent them some softening verdure, but they were little more than sheds, with dirt floors and crumbling mud walls huddled together around a dirt yard. The low roofs, constructed of plaited palm fronds, made the ceiling of the ship’s cabin seem high.
A gaggle of children chased each other, giving off infectious squeals of laughter. One little girl wore a ragged shirt as a dress. A boy of no more than five ran past wearing only trousers. Sitting in the dirt, patting at the dust, one toddler wore nothing at all. Watching over them were a pair of old women and an old man. The man leaned back on a bench in the sun with his head resting against the side of one of the sheds. His occasional snore was audible even over the laughter of the children.
As the children ran past the women, a spider the size of a draft horse rose out of the dirt. It gave an incongruous, bubbling laugh. Squealing in mock terror, the children scattered.
It had taken only a moment to recognise that the red and black creature was a rough glamour, but it still made Jane’s mouth quite dry. Even Zeus had started back when it emerged.
The children, however, were not fearful. Their squeals quickly changed to laughter as they joined together on the far side of the yard. The older of the two women smiled and waved her hands in front of her, making the spider unravel into the ether. She nudged her neighbour and they worked together, clearly reweaving the glamour that had sprung out at the children. Jane bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from shifting her vision to the ether to see what they were doing. Every movement and twist of their fingers spoke of working glamour, but she could see none of the threads. With matched grunts, they tied off their work.
So quickly! Jane fairly itched to see their process.
The younger of the two sat back while the elder nodded to the children to begin their run. The children started off cautiously, and Jane soon understood. The women had placed a trap for the children. They had to play their game around it, not knowing when the spider would jump out.
One of the little girls spotted Jane and came to a halt in front of her. She remained stuck to the earth, staring first at Jane, then at Louisa and Zeus with his basket, and finally back to Jane. The girl’s braid went into her mouth as she stared.
So riveted was the child that Jane almost expected her to scream. One of the little boys spotted them next. Then a flurry of movement had all of the children standing in a group in front of them, save for the toddler, who still played in the dirt. Jane counted nine of them in various states of undress, none appearing to be more than ten years of age.
The old women moved more slowly. One nudged the other, who answered with a little grunt before heaving herself off the bench.
Louisa, next to Jane, gave a little sigh.
“Good afternoon.” Jane greeted the children first, to give the old woman time to make her way to them.
They looked at each other and one of them giggled. What she would not give to be able to perform glamour right now. It had always been how she had made friends with children in the past.
“What were you playing?” Jane smiled and addressed the first little girl. She backed away upon being addressed, her braid still in her mouth. One of the older boys caught the girl about the shoulders and wrapped her in a hug. On Jane’s other side, Zeus shifted with his basket. She turned to him and said, “Shall we set up on the bench over there?”
He hesitated. “I would wait until Nkiruka tells you what to do, madam.”
Jane made note of that hesitation and his advice. It spoke worlds about the woman’s stature in the community. “May I take it that that is Nkiruka approaching us now?”
“Yes, madam.”
The woman was a deep ruddy brown, all lines and wrinkles folded around a mouth that seemed designed to disapprove. Or perhaps just to disapprove of Jane, since she had been smiling broadly while playing with the children. She wore her hair under a kerchief, but the bits that peeked out at the temples were grey. She gave a sharp hiss at the children, and they scattered like water on a hot pan.
Jane nodded to her. “Good afternoon.”
The woman rested her hands on her lean hips. When she answered, her words clung together as if they wanted to stay snug. Jane had to think for a moment before she understood her to say, “If you say so, ma’am.”
Jane gestured to the basket that Zeus carried. “My husband, Mr. Hamilton, and I have only just arrived in Antigua. I thought you might want some meat for your dinner.”