Riverbreeze: Part 2 (11 page)

For several weeks I had been planning our escape; I had heard about great adventurers in Virginia needing servants to work on their tobacco plantations and then the promise of land. Of course I wanted mine own estate; I knew Wesley had inherited all of Brentwood Manor and as soon as Jamie and I reached adulthood we would be tossed aside along with the kitchen slops. I knew we would need money and I
wanted
our mother’s jewels. He didn’t deserve them; he had no right to them, but I knew he would never give them to us, so I stole them.” He said simply. “Over several months, I would sneak into his chamber at night when the household was asleep and he was out with one of his filthy whores and one piece at a time, I stole them.” He noticed her looking down at her ring. “Yes, that ring is one of the pieces. I would always steal them right after Wesley had brought one of the women to the house to make it appear as if one of them had stolen the jewelry.”

“How could you do that?” She exclaimed.

“I saw no other way. I admit I felt some guilt when I found out that he had beaten several of the women and discarded them without a thought, but you see, I was desperate. All I could think about was saving Jamie…and me…from that
filthy
animal. I was twelve years old then; I was growing taller and stronger and I knew Wesley was watching me, deciding what he was going to do with me. Up to that point I had escaped Wesley’s wrath; I was willing to work whenever he told me to; I didn’t mind working in the gardens or in the fields. But I knew ‘twouldn’t be long before he did something to hurt me or break me. I never felt any guilt over taking those jewels. They were
mine
, and Jamie’s, so I took them and I hid them under the floorboards in the room where Jamie and I slept. I knew that Wesley would never think of coming into our bedchamber. After out father died, he had condemned us to a servant’s room on the third floor. He stripped us of all our fine clothing, gave us rags to wear and treated us worse than any of the other servants on the estate. We lived like that for four years and at first we were too young to fight or even think of escape. Jamie and I would just huddle in our room at night, clutch each other and cry. We never stopped crying…” He stopped there for a minute, staring into the flames as if in a trance, remembering. He felt Elizabeth’s arm around his waist, warm and comforting.

She felt pity for the child that he had been, but proud of the man he had become. “But you grew stronger, gaining strength from each other.” She said.

“Yes.” He said, sounding surprised at her words. “And being the older brother, I knew I had to take control of the situation. When Francis’ agent came to our estate with news of Virginia and all she could offer, I became so excited. I never told Jamie of my plan until one day when he had gotten so badly whipped that he couldn’t walk. The groom had to carry him to the house and when I saw him, something inside of me snapped. I knew it was time; I told Jamie of my plan; the agent was coming again in two days to sign on as many indentured servants as would come. At first Jamie didn’t want to do it; he was only ten at the time and still completely frightened of Wesley. I was frightened too, but I had to do something.

That night Wesley went out again and I waited until everyone in the house was asleep. There was one piece of my mother’s jewelry that I had never found and I wanted it badly. I remember, before my father died, the portrait of my mother hanging in the hall and seeing the ruby and diamond necklace that she had been wearing. I remember my father telling me that one day I would inherit that necklace to give to my son. He told me that it had been my mother’s favorite and he said that we should always honor her by keeping that necklace in our family, and handing it down son to son. So, you see, I had to find it.”

“And you did.” She whispered, knowing his determination.

“Oh, yes, I did.” He answered, sounding extremely satisfied with himself. “He had hidden it in a secret drawer in his dresser. And what is surprising to me is that I had gone over that dresser time and time again before, never finding anything. But that night, I tried one more time, taking my time, examining every inch of wood, pressing every seam and joint. I didn’t care anymore if someone discovered me; I just had to find that necklace. And when I did, I knew everything would be all right. It was like a sign; it was the symbol of our freedom and our future.

The next morning when Wesley discovered it missing, he was mad with rage. I had been working in the kitchen garden with the other female servants so I hadn’t witnessed his initial outburst. So when I saw him coming towards me with murder in his eyes, I immediately thought he had found out that I had taken the necklace. But I didn’t say a word; I hid my fear and acted as if I didn’t know why he could be so angry. I certainly wouldn’t admit that I had taken the necklace and at that first moment, I knew I wouldn’t beg for mercy, even if he meant to beat the confession out of me. After all I was guilty. I had stolen the jewels and I had resigned myself to whatever punishment he was about to administer. Of course I didn’t know what was to come.

He grabbed me by the wrist, growling something about getting answers, and pulled me into the house and into the hall. I was shocked to see all the house servants lined up opposite the sight he had prepared for me. I knew then that he didn’t know I had taken the jewels and I was going to be used as a lure to get the servants to talk.”

“A lure? What do you mean?” Elizabeth questioned.

“Jamie and I had always been the favorites of the servants; that was another reason why Wesley hated us so much. Wesley thought that if he threatened to beat me right in front of them, it would make them talk. But they had no idea who took the jewels so it didn’t work.”

“But he beat you just the same.”

“Yes, but he didn’t know that
they
didn’t know. He thought at least one of them knew something. I will never forget the looks on their faces when I was brought into that room. They knew what was to come; they had already been questioned and told of the consequences. They were frantic that they couldn’t help me. Wesley was determined though, I’ll give him that. No amount of pleading on their parts swayed his course of action.”

“Why didn’t they band together and attack him, or something? Surely they could have done something as a whole?”

“I’m not sure; maybe they were too well subjugated. Wesley had a powerful way about him. He scared everybody. And they watched in total abject fear as he bound my wrists with some kind of leather strap and shoved me face first into the wall where my mother’s portrait used to hang. I told you that he had prepared a sight for me. Well, he knew what he was doing. After my father had died, the first thing he did was tear down that portrait and shred it with a knife right in front of me and Jamie. It had terrified us and crushed us. We were nothing to him, just worms to be ground to slime beneath his boot heels.”

“I can’t imagine the fear you must have felt!”

“He had us all under his heel and I was scared to death at that moment when I looked up to see a rope hanging from the hook that was anchored high in the wall that once held my mother’s portrait. I thought he meant to hang me and that’s when I started to cry and beg. But before I could admit anything, he had struck me on the back of my head to shut me up and I banged my forehead on the wall. It stunned me for a minute and actually that blow probably saved my life because I had been ready to confess, but all he did was tie the strap to the rope raising my arms up over my head. He wasn’t going to hang me after all, at least from the neck.” He said a little wryly. “So, I never did confess. I was still scared but I was resigned. Jamie had suffered through beatings and whippings just for being himself and surely I deserved this punishment since I had stolen all that money and jewelry.”

“But children do not deserve punishments that mark them for life!” She protested.

“I do not believe he thought ‘twould go that far. At least I hope he hadn’t wanted to whip me like that, but he couldn’t get any answers from the servants and he was ready to explode. He wanted to shock them into giving him answers and when they couldn’t, that only fueled his rage. He thought they were continuing to protect someone and he was going to punish them by punishing me for that loyalty. He continued to yell and scream at the servants but all they could do was cry and beg for mercy. Wesley didn’t want to hear any of that. He tore off my shirt then and ripped my breeches so that I hung there with my naked back facing all the servants. That was the most humiliating moment for me and I thought I couldn’t stand it anymore. To be whipped is one thing; to be stripped naked is another. But Wesley didn’t care; he wasn’t hearing any of the servants’ excuses. He gave them one more chance to tell them the truth before striking the first blow. He picked up the cane in his right hand and slapped it ominously against the side of his leg. But they didn’t have the truth, and when that first hard crack came across the small of my back, I felt like I was being split in two. I had never felt anything like it before; like I said before, I had never been beaten or whipped like Jamie had. I do not even remember being spanked before. I cried out, more from the shock than from the pain. But that wasn’t the end of it. Even now I do not know how long it went on; I can only remember Wesley’s shouted demands, the servants’ cries,
my
crying, the sustained, deliberate, brutal blows falling across my back; ‘tis all a daze. But I do remember at one point between the strikes, feeling something slithering down my back and over my arse, and in my dazed state, I thought it was a snake and I must have screamed even louder than I had been. I realized later that what I had been feeling was my own blood running down my back.”

“I am so sorry, Robert.” Elizabeth said, turning to hug him.

“Why?” He asked, gathering her close and tucking her head against his shoulder.

“Why!” She exclaimed, pulling away to gape at him. “Why? Because…because you were whipped and frightened and lonely and that awful man…”

He quickly gathered her into his arms when he realized she was crying.

“Elizabeth…” he murmured. “I am grateful for your sympathy but I do not want it. I am not that small boy anymore and I do not blame Wesley for what he did that day.”

“You are amazing.” She said. “How could you not blame him? He whipped you so hard you have permanent marks on your back.”

“But remember, I
was
guilty; in my mind I deserved that punishment. And you know, he never had the satisfaction of finding out who really stole that necklace. He doesn’t know to this day and he will never know. Would you like to see it?” He asked suddenly, sounding quite pleased with himself.

“You have it here? Yes, of course I would like to see it!” She said excitedly.

“Wait here; I’ll get it.” He stood up, letting the sheet fall from his lap, leaving him stark naked. Elizabeth watched him unashamedly as he walked to the far corner of the room. As he walked past the small fireplace, the flames cast a ruddy glow on his body, highlighting every lean, firm muscle from shoulder to ankle. She smiled in appreciation and much to her surprise, she felt herself blush with the knowledge that she wanted him again.

He arrived at the other corner and squatted down to pull up a secret panel in the floor. She felt like she shouldn’t watch so she turned her attention to the pillows and started fluffing them, giving her something to do to get her mind off the sight of his lean buttocks.

When he came back, he had another wooden box in his hands, this one flatter than the other one in the chest. He flashed her a smile as he sat down next to her, and he slowly opened the lid.

She gasped. The necklace was amazing. Jewels fit for a queen. It was made of linked gold pieces, each embellished with a leaf design and set with rubies and diamonds mounted in the form of flowers. And one single large ruby teardrop dangled from the center link.

He lifted it out, draped it over his palm, and grinned like a fool. “Isn’t it exquisite?” He asked.

Elizabeth’s eyes were huge. “Yes, it is, but aren’t you worried? Do you ever worry that your brother…?” She left the thought unsaid.

“How? He will never come here. Relax, Elizabeth. Here, try it on.” Before she could protest, he reached out and fastened it around her neck.

She touched it nervously with her fingertips as she looked down at it against her pale skin.

“Ah…” He said, admiring her. The large ruby dangled provocatively close to her cleavage. “You were meant to wear this, Elizabeth.”

“No! No!” She shook her head, looking distressed. “You said your father told you to pass this on to your son, not to your wife.” She took in a sharp breath then, a thought coming to her. “Did Kathleen ever wear this?”

He let out a breath. “To be honest with you, no.” He said gravely. “She wouldn’t wear it either. She said it was too precious. And I know what you’re thinking.” He added suddenly, noticing how she looked down at the emerald ring. He lifted her face up with a finger under her chin. His voice was firm as he said, “She did not wear this ring either. She wore another one, one that I have saved for Robin now. Maybe…” He paused thoughtfully. “Maybe if she had lived…” He trailed off, letting out his breath.

“Take this off, Robert.” She said softly. “I mean no disrespect, but this necklace should be saved for Robin. Your father commanded it. You must honor him in that way.”

He heaved a sigh. “All right.” He conceded, helping her to unclasp the necklace. He was disappointed in her reaction. He thought she would love it as he did and want to wear it, although he didn’t know where she would wear it. But he respected her feelings of reluctance. He placed it gently back in the box and sliding his fingers once more over the jewels, slowly closed the lid. “I’ll put it away.” He said softly.