The only thing that bothers Gilbert is that he hasn’t discussed any of this with Sara. If he pays for this ticket and perhaps even gives Cecily a few coins for the journey, he’ll be postponing Sara’s purchase by months or even years.
He tells himself that Sara would make the same decision, if it were up to her. And that maybe none of this will matter if Phyllis Johnston comes through with her offer. She was so adamant that Gilbert deserved to be rewarded for his bravery. If the general accepts the terms of her proposal, which Gilbert assumes will be generous, Sara’s future will be secure. In a matter of days, she could be looking for a job that pays a real wage—enough to replace whatever Gilbert has spent on Cecily’s travel and then some.
At the coffeehouse, a few men sit at tables, sipping hot drinks and reading copies of theEnquirer, but the place is nowhere near as crowded as it usually is this time of day. Whatiscrowded is the counter, where one old woman scurries to serve a long line of customers.
Gilbert gets in line and listens to the conversations around him. A manat the front of the queue has lost his wife and wants to send word to the woman’s parents in Roanoke, as well as his own in Amherst. Another man lost his daughters and has got to find a way to tell his wife, who has been in London these last several months. One young woman needs her mother to send her mourning clothes from their country house. The stories swirl around him, and by the time Gilbert nears the front of the line, he feels nearly flattened by them.
He has retrieved the tobacco pouch from his pocket and is practicing what he will say about the stagecoach ticket when he notices a flyer tacked up on the wall.
RUN-AWAY
Two nights ago, from the theater, a tall, slim straight Negro wench, nam’d Cecily Patterson, about 19 years of age, of a yellowish complexion, has had the small pox, but is smooth faced, and talks good English, has the middle finger of her left hand crooked and cannot straighten it; was born in Richmond and belongs to Mr. Elliott Price Sr.; is sensible, cunning, and artful, and can wash, mend, and sew; Has on a gray dress, a blue shawl, and a pair of leather shoes; Last seen in the Negro gallery, Thursday the 26th of December.
Whoever will bring home the said wench to her master shall have 2 DOLLARS reward if taken in town, or 3 DOLLARS reward, if taken out of town, beside all reasonable charges.
All masters of vessels and others are forwarn’d not to entertain or carry her away as they will answer it at their peril.
ELLIOTT PRICE JR.
Gilbert tries not to be too obvious reading it, but the words are so close together that he has to squint to see them. Behind him, a white man lets out an exasperated sigh, which might have to do with the long wait, but might also have to do with the fact that he doesn’t like seeing a Negro who can read.
Gilbert has barely gotten to the last line of the flyer when the man in front of him finishes up his transaction, and the woman behind the counter calls, “Next!”
“Go on, now, son,” says the man behind Gilbert, and Gilbert bristles.
He can’t buy Cecily a stagecoach ticket, not with this flyer all over town.All masters of vessels and others are forwarn’d not to entertain or carry her away as they will answer it at their peril.That doesn’t just mean boat captains; it means stagecoach drivers, too.
And what’s more is that Gilbert hadn’t even considered Cecily’s bad finger. All it’s going to take is the conductor asking to see her hands, and she’ll be sunk—doesn’t matter how good her pass is.
Gilbert needs to get out of this line and out of this coffeehouse. He needs to go warn Della that their plan—as it stands—won’t work. But the woman behind the counter is staring at him, and he doesn’t want to draw attention to himself. He eyes a few glass jars on the counter, takes a half dime out of his pouch, and hands it to her. “A piece of rock candy, please.”
Outside the coffeehouse, he shoves the candy into his pocket, sick that he’s just spent money on something so frivolous. Then he turns toward the Price place.
Now that he’s looking for it, he sees the flyer everywhere—tacked onto sign posts and horse hitches, pasted onto windows and building facades. When no one is looking, he rips one off a barber’s pole, folds it, and shoves it into his pocket.
Elliott Price must have put up a hundred of these flyers, maybe more. Gilbert wants nothing more than to pull down every single one he sees, gather them up in his arms, and take them back to his forge, where he can use them for fuel. But the damage is already done.
Richmonders know that Cecily Patterson is not dead, or at least that Elliott Price does not believe her to be. The distinction hardly matters, but what does matter is that getting Cecily out of the city just got a great deal harder.
CECILY
When Cecily approaches the backsideof her parents’ cabin, she’s shocked to find her uncle Gilbert is already there, hiding in the thick brush.
She creeps up behind him and gives him an awful start, but he doesn’t dare say a thing. Instead, he just shakes his head at her, which is his way of asking what in the world she’s doing up in the quarters in broad daylight.
“Moses,” she whispers, but when she tries to say more, he puts a finger to his lips and gestures toward the street, where they can hear the braying of horses and the murmurs of the folks who live in the other cabins.
“Is it him?” she mouths, and he nods his head yes.
The men on horseback have brought Moses back to the Price property, which doesn’t make any sense to Cecily until she hears Elliott’s voice among them. “Look what we found upriver,” he says, and a moment later, something heavy hits the ground with a thud.
Cecily drops to her knees, peers under the house and all the way out the other side, where her brother lies motionless in the street. She might have screamed, but Gilbert clamps his hand over her lips and whispers, “Make one sound, and you’ll take us all down with you.”
He’s right. Of course he’s right. If she is discovered now, it won’t take Elliott long to realize she got help. And when he does, her mama, Moses, and maybe even Gilbert are going to be in for it.
Moses lies on his side, facing the cabin. He’s banged up but not bleeding, and when he blinks once and then twice, Cecily convinces herself that he can see Gilbert and her, hiding in the house’s long shadows.
Della flies down the steps of the cabin and out onto the street, but Elliott steps in front of her before she can reach her son’s slumped form.
