Bittersweet Endeavors (4 page)

“
What if you negotiate the bonds today
?
”
  His father’s suggestion was an attempt
in
soften
ing
the
reproach
.  “
But t
hey’ll
also
be your responsibility
once we arrive home,
”
he warned.

Seth
smiled wide.  H
is father
had always taken
on the task.
Even at
three and twenty
years, his father still thought
of
him
as
a child.  Yet
now
,
he entrust
ed
him with a task befitting a man and he
plan
ned
to
mak
e
his father proud.

“How many
shall
be purchased today?”
  Seth
poorly
controlled
the excitement in his tone.

His father shook his head.  Clear blue eyes
that
mirror
ed
his
own softened, but Seth
saw
the discouraged look in his father’s eyes
. 

“
Very few
, I’m afraid,
s
on
.
”
  He kept his voice low,
not wanting their neighbors
to hear
about
their financial woes.  “
There’s not much tobacco left for trading, for we spent nearly all our yearly provisions last month
in seeing
us through
w
inter.
”

Seth nodded, and
as his shoulders slumped downward,
so did his
spirit
s
.
Seth
hoped he’d
s
how
his father his ability
to
purchas
e
good, strong workers who’d
prove
productive in their tobacco
fields
.  Yet he wondered how he’d accomplish that task if there was only
a scant amount
of laborers
procure
d
.
 
H
e understood his father’s plight
, though
.  Since join
ing the colony, their funds
were
pinched for the construction of their new plantation home, as well as providing
their
daily necessities.
However,
S
eth’s disappointment didn’t go unnoticed. 

“Albeit from our present financial state, I t
hink we can afford at least six,
”
Anvil Preston declared.

Anvil
smiled up at him. 
Seth
outgrew
his
father by nearly
a head
in the
previous
two
years
.  Anvil raised his hand and patted
his
back,
and Seth
saw the proud glea
m
in his father’s eyes.

“Now, get
busy choosing some good workers before the best ones are spoken for.”  With a curt nod, Anvil Preston crossed his arms and urged Seth onward with a
nother
nod. 

Seth rushed down the line and inspected the many prospective field hands who
would
tend the fields and aid
in
the building of their plantation home.

“Do not forget, Seth, your mother wishes for a new maid,” Anvil called after him.  “Be sure to find someone who’ll be agreeable with her.”

Seth nodded his acknowledgment and continued down the l
ine of indentures. 
He saw
three exceptionally large men who looked fit and not
b
othered b
y their journey
,
or did they seem unduly distressed by the cold, brisk snow beneath their bare feet. 
He decided he’d
bid well for them
, and if his
good fortune
held out,
one may be that of a carpenter. 

As he made his way toward the end of the line, he
saw
of a young girl who stood slightly away from the others.  The trader followed his gaze and the man promptly reproached her.  Seth winced when the trader thrust her forward with the brunt of his hands
and forced
her
in
to stand
ing
aside
the rest of the bondsmen and women. 

Seth stood still
and
watch
ed
the scene as it enfolded.  Several onlookers
had taken
notice of the attractive girl, too, and although
the men
kne
w better than
voic
e
their intent on what they’
d
like to do with her, they markedly
revealed
their unspoken suggestions with wicked expressions.

A surge of protectiveness flowed through him, but he didn’t know why. 
Throughout the years, he watched
many young bond
s
women
as they came
through the lines, but there
was
something different
about the girl
. 
Seth wondered if it was because she l
ook
ed
about
the age of
Margaret,
his younger sister. 
Certainly
it wasn’t
due to her
comely appearance,
for she looked
as small as
a
child.  He shrugged off the unwelcome
d
thoughts that emerged. 
Weren’t
th
ey
the same
thoughts
that
he silently rebuffed the others who ogled her?

T
he
crowd
scurried their way in front of her
, and he
pushed and prodded his way throu
gh the hoard of people until he
stood in front of her.
 
“
What is y
our name?”
He w
anted
to demonstrate his ability
to
wisely choos
e
servants,
but
t
here he
was,
asking a meaningless question.  H
e knew he looked
foolish
, but
yet
he
eagerly a
waited
her answer.

The girl faced all the men who stood
in front of
her,
and looked
at
each of
them on
e by one.  The men gawked
and inspected
her head
to heel
.
Seth
wondered if they
waited
excitedly
as he
in
hear
ing
her name, too. 

Then, she looked at him.

His
breath caught in his chest
,
and he
forced
himself to breath
e
.  Her amber eyes
be
held a wealth of gold
, b
ut
he saw
her
fear w
ithin
their depths
.
  Seth accounted
for
her fear
to
the reaction she
received
around her.  Undoubtedly, if one of the men claim
ed
her, she’
d
fulfill her time of servitude
on her back.  The supposition plagued him until a dull pang
invaded
his belly.

“
Myra
.  My name is
Myra
,
”
the raven hair beauty finally
declared
.

Although only a whisper,
Seth felt the harmony
of her voice
as it
cascade
d
within him.  It spre
ad soothingly through him and
summoned a peace within that he’
d
never known. 

How
ever, quick as the feeli
ng came over him,
he forced it below the surface.  He
was
acting
like a besotted fool
.
 
He wondered w
hat his father
would
think
of his foolishness over a bondswoman.
 

Seth examined her closely. 
He s
lowly swept
a glance
from her rich b
lack hair to her tattered
wool
-
covered feet. 
Despite her shabby clothing,
she possessed a
comely
face
.
  Even so, he would
bet his share of their tobacco farm
that
she
had been
a whore or thief back in England
,
two common offenses of the women
.  At
least
,
for those
bonds
who
hadn’t
enter
ed
for
the
sake of
their
passage
.  Seth decided a
tender voice
and
a pl
easing face wouldn’t fool him.

What was your crime, child?” 
He
sufficiently raised his
voice
and
se
n
t
a
surge
of
authority
in
to
his tone
.  He
watched many men purchase indentures throughout the years
, and as he learned, it was
essential
keeping
the upper hand, as well as portray
ing
superiority over them.

The young girl fidgeted with a lock
of her long, black hair that
had
let loose from
a
poorly styled
knot
atop
her head.  She twirled
the
strand
nervously a
round
her finger. 
Seth suspected she
was
d
ispirited by the attention
she received
.  She raised her chin and again
looked at him.  Vexation plagued her lovely, pale skin, and Seth felt a pang of regret.

He couldn’t let her weaken his senses.  He
scowled
at her.

The girl
scowled
back!

“I asked you a question,
child
.” 

“I am
not
a child,” she forced out. 

“You are only a mite,
”
Seth grunted.
 

The crowd joined his goading of her
, and soon
the crowd was
in
an uproar of laughter at the girl’s expense. 

“You don’t
look to weigh that of a sack of flour and st
and
no taller than
a fencepost
.
  E
ven my sister P
atience, who is a child of
eleven years, c
ould
ea
sily keep you within her shadow.
”
  He made his statement his last words and moved o
nward down the line
,
but her reply made him
halt
.