Eleanor Pyke
I reread both letters several times until the words blurred. My half sister Eleanor’s short note told me little, but what seemed clear was that I needed to get to Williamsburg as soon as possible. But first there was Pan.
THE NEXT AFTERNOON, as I rode again to see Addy at Southwood, I decided that if I were to encounter Bill Thomas, I would override Mr. Spencer’s warning. Though I didn’t doubt his words were true, I believed that when it came to money, every man had a tipping point, and I meant to offer a purse that Bill Thomas could not refuse. Pan and I needed to leave as soon as possible.
On my arrival, Addy had the chessboard set up, but I spent most of our game lost in my own thoughts. “Mr. Burton! It’s your turn,” Addy finally scolded.
I forced myself to focus on the chess game. “Sorry, sorry,” I mumbled, and picked up a pawn to make a quick move.
“Oh, we might as well stop playing!” she pouted.
“Why?” I asked.
“Look at what you did! Are you intentionally letting me win? And before, when I said that I was coming home on Sunday, you didn’t say anything kind.”
“I didn’t? Forgive me, Miss Adelaide,” I said. “Of course it will be wonderful to have you home again. I’m having one of those days when I can’t seem to get my feet on the ground.”
She tilted her head to look at me. “I’m surprised to learn that about you. You are always so sure of yourself.”
“It is all a fine act, Miss Adelaide,” I said.
“You mustn’t feel bad,” she said. “Even I have days when I don’t feel myself.”
“Is that right?” I teased.
“Yes, especially since Mother . . .” Her eyes welled up. “I miss her, you know, but I daren’t say so. Father and Patricia are both so unhappy. I must stay strong for them.”
“I understand,” I said.
“And one mustn’t dwell on sadness,” she said. “As Father’s friend would say, ‘A stiff upper lip, don’t you know.’?” She mimicked well an English accent. We exchanged a smile and then returned to the game. Under an hour later, as I was preparing to leave, word came that Bill Thomas was waiting outside to see me. My heart racing, I headed to the stairway, where I ran into Sukey. She reached out as though she wanted to say something, but I didn’t want to keep Thomas waiting and shook my head. “Later,” I whispered, and left.
The man was standing in the shade of the house, one foot resting casually on a back step. “Mr. Thomas,” I greeted him as cheerfully as I could. “It is good to see you again.”
He nodded in response, then took off his hat, wiped his forehead with his sleeve, and ran a hand through his thick blond hair. He replaced his hat, then studied me while setting it right.
“Are you ready to do business?” I asked.
He looked down at his feet. “What kinda business you wantin’ to do?” He leaned over and slapped at some dust on his pant leg.
I knew that I had one chance. “I’ll get right to the point. I want to buy that woman Sukey and the boy Pan. I’ll give you what you ask.”
“?’Fraid you wantin’ two that’s not for sale. I have a few others you can have a look at.” He eyed me with a smile.
From the upstairs rooms, I heard Addy call out for Hester and wondered if Thomas knew that Hester and Sukey were likely at the open window, listening to our conversation.
“It is the two from the hospital that I am wanting,” I said.
“They ain’t for sale.”
“Name the amount,” I said.
“They are not for sale,” he said.
“All right. Then I’ll settle on Pan.”
“Nope. Not for sale.”
“And what if I were to tell you that he was stolen from me?”
If I expected a surprised reaction, it was not forthcoming. He remained as composed as ever. “And you have papers on him?” he asked.
“He was free! He didn’t have papers.”
“So you say.” He smirked.
“Look,” I said, anger seeping in, “if you don’t sell him now, I will return with papers that say he is free, and then you’ll get nothing for him. Why not just sell him to me, and that will put an end to all of this!”
“Why you wantin’ him so bad? Seems you got some other kind of interest in him. You get yourself with a nigra? He your boy?” I glared at him, and when his blue eyes glinted with pleasure, I realized I had lost. Nothing material would substitute for the deep satisfaction that his power provided him. Threats were all I had left.
“Unless you sell him now, I make a promise that I shall keep. Stealing Negro children from Philadelphia is illegal, and if you do not hand him over to me now, I will prosecute you. I will not stop until I see you—”
“I’ve heard enough! The boy is already sold.”
I took a step back to stare at him. “So he is no longer here?”
“Trader’s comin’ by to pick him up.”
“You’ve actually sold him?” I asked, moving closer again.
“That’s right,” he said. “Once he’s gone, I’ll forget I ever saw him. Funny thing is, everybody on this place is gonna forget about him, too. You come back here with those papers, nobody’s gonna know who you’re talking about.”
An armed overseer, fingering his gun, watched from a nearby position. Thomas scanned the fields. Finally, he looked back at me. “I take it, then, that you don’t have no interest in any of the others?”
“You know who I want!”
“Something tells me you didn’t come here just for that boy. What I’d like to know is what you’re doing here, anyway? When you started askin’ for Sukey, now, that got my attention. Why her?” He peered out from under the brim of his hat. “Something’s just not sittin’ right. I’ve got to tell you, soon as you came over here looking for that boy, I’ve been wonderin’ if you’re actually from Philadelphia. I got a man in town lookin’ into you right now. From the start, somethin’ about you don’t feel right to me.” Casually, he placed his hand on top of the gun slung from his waist. “Now, Mr. Philadelphia, you got time to get your horse, and you got time to get up on him. Then I’ll give you enough time to ride out. But I’m warning you right now, don’t come back!”
I had no weapon, and even if I had, I was outnumbered. My chest pounded with impotent rage as I walked down the brick path that led me out of the garden and past the hospital. Was Pan still there, or had they already taken him?
I spurred my horse for home and pounded into Mr. Spencer’s yard, where he and Sam were standing outside the barn. Fury had me lose good sense. “Thomas already sold the boy!” I shouted. “And he told me to get off the property!”
The two stared up at me.
“The boy was mine!” I continued to shout. “Months ago he was stolen from me! He was free, but he was under my care.”
Mr. Spencer looked grim. “I was beginning to wonder about your interest in the boy,” he said, then turned to Sam. “Hitch up the farm wagon. We’ve got to get over there.” He hurried toward the house and waved me with him. “Help me get the wagon fitted out so we can fetch Addy.”
I didn’t understand his need to remove his daughter. Surely Thomas would not harm the girl. “He was upset, but he won’t involve Addy,” I said as we pulled pallets, pillows, and blankets from the house and heaped them into the wagon to create a soft nest in which to cradle the patient.
“I’ve seen Thomas when he’s riled. He takes it out on others, and I don’t want her on the place if that starts to happen.”
When we finished, Mr. Spencer climbed up on the wagon alongside Sam. “Do you want me to come?” I offered, but Mr. Spencer gave me a grim look.
“You stay here, and when I get back, we’ll talk this through. Right now I’ve got to get over there.”
Sam slapped the reins and set the two horses off at a trot. Before they were out of sight, I went into the house to begin packing. With Thomas’s men asking questions about me in town, I had to leave as soon as possible. With a sick heart, I realized that I would have to leave Pan behind.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
1830
James