Chapter 7
By the following morning, Catherine’s throat burned from being so dry and her wrists were chaffed from where she’d rubbed them against the rope, trying to get free. It had been no use and sometime during the night, she’d finally collapsed from exhaustion. An older woman with grey hair and a gentle face untied her and helped her stand.
“Been a long night for you child,” the woman said, eyes crinkling as Catherine nodded. “Next time, it be best if you behave yourself in front of the Overseer.”
“I didn’t want them…to hurt Michael.”
“Is he your love?”
Catherine shook her head weakly. “No, just…just a friend from home.”
The woman nodded and Catherine glanced around. She’d been placed out in the middle of the sugar cane fields. Now they headed up the main dirt path between the fields towards the large house. She’d only been able to catch a glimpse of it before being tied to the stake facing out into the tropical jungle that surrounded the plantation. The house was a mansion, made of large, white rocks that glistened in the sunlight. It was the biggest building Catherine had ever seen before and despite how terrible she felt, she couldn’t help but be amazed by it.
“Quite a sight, isn’t it,” the old woman said. “You’ll get used to it once you start your work there.”
“I’m working in the house? Even after yesterday?”
“Yes, it seems you have special instructions to be in the house. But if you ever need anything, please ask me, child. Rennie is what they call me. Just ask for old mama Rennie.”
“I’m Catherine. Have you been here long?”
Rennie sighed. “Nearly all my life, Catherine, nearly. Now then, here’s the house. I’ll leave you to another, to find your room. Stay out of trouble child, although I fear that your nature may attract it.” She cupped Catherine’s cheek. It felt as if her own mother was standing there. Rennie patted her gently on the head and headed off.
Catherine wasn’t sure where to go and then she saw another woman approaching her.
“Ah! There you are, perfect. Let me show you to your room. The others are waiting for you,” the woman said brusquely. “I am Maxine and I am the head slave of the house. Hurry along now, you’re already late.”
Catherine muttered an apology and hurried after the woman, her tight sandals rubbing against the skin on her feet. The skirt at least was short enough she didn’t have to hold it as they rushed around the back of the house and to some rough looking quarters near the trees.
“This is where you and the others will call home from now on. Learn to make it so.”
“It looks lovely,” she said trying not to sound disappointed. She’d hoped for some reason they’d be allowed to stay in the mansion. But a roof over her head was better than nothing and she mentally scolded herself to accept it and move on. There were other things that were more important.
Maxine reached the third door in the row and pulled a key from her pocket. As she unlocked it, Charlotte, Mary, and Rose all emerged. They ran to hug Catherine briefly before Maxine cleared her throat.
“Now then, as you can see when you are not going about your chores at your designated times, your door will be locked. That is until you have proven that you will not cause trouble. Is that understood?”
They all bobbed their heads. A locked door? Catherine didn’t really like the sound of that. What if they had to get out? If something happened? But then again…at least no one could get in unless they had a key. She’d seen the way some of the overseers and other slaves had looked at her, staked out in the middle of the field. Maybe a locked door was for the best.
“Now then to your duties. Listen close, I will only tell you one time. You are to clean the mansion from top to bottom and you will cook for all those of his house, along with the other slaves on the plantation. It is possible once the Master sees you at your tasks that he may choose you for other things based on your…talents,” she said and let the word hang on the air.
Catherine swallowed hard, wondering what that might mean, but Charlotte only stood taller beside her, a sparkling glint in her eyes.
“You will dress in the clothes that will be brought to you and you are not to wear anything else. Your hair must always be down. Do not look at the Master directly, no eye contact of any kind is permitted. You will not speak or ask questions unless spoken to directly. Curtsy when you enter a room where the Master or those of his like are present,” she went on and paced back and forth in front of them. “Now, for your working hours.”
She turned around and motioned towards the sun still high in the sky.
“You will not start your duties until four in the afternoon, when the sun hits the tops of those trees there. You will be required to work through the night and will return here once the sun has risen.”
“May I ask why we keep such strange hours?” Charlotte ventured.
Maxine glowered at her. “No, you may not. You are to do as you’re told.”
Catherine frowned at Charlotte, shaking her head as her friend looked like she was ready to ask another question.
“Your new clothes will be brought to you shortly. I expect you to be dressed and ready by four. Someone will come and escort you to the house. Until then, I suggest you rest to ensure you have enough strength for the night.”
Maxine waited for them to head back into their small shack of a home. She started to close the door then stopped and stepped inside. Catherine backed up, not sure why, but the woman made her feel the same as Dion had. Something was off about the woman and until she knew what she was truly like, Catherine did not want to be near her.
“When you bleed during the month, you are not to work in the mansion. There is a smaller house on the far side of the fields that you will use during this time,” she said tightly. “It is essential you follow this rule. Do I make myself clear?”
Timidly, Mary raised her hand. “I uh, I’m bleeding now, ma’am. Started this morning.”
Maxine frowned and reached out for Mary’s hand. “Come along then. You will not return until your bleeding has fully stopped.”
Catherine told Mary it was going to be all right as the frightened girl was dragged out of the shack and the door was locked in their faces. There was a window by the door, blocked by bars, but Catherine was able to see out and smiled so Mary could see her. Then Maxine pulled her along, towards the sugar cane fields, and disappeared out of sight.
“Well she is just a wonderful woman isn’t she,” Charlotte muttered. “What is their problem with blood? Does the master not want us bleeding on his precious furniture?”
Catherine shrugged as she backed away from the window. “It does seem a bit odd.”
“A bit? It’s a natural course of nature and instead we have to be locked up in a house. Poor Mary.”
“She’ll be fine. They won’t hurt her,” Catherine said, hoping she sounded surer than she felt. Truth was she had no idea what was going to happen to them now. Working in the mansion wouldn’t be bad, but that meant being close to the master and his associates. They hadn’t had a chance to speak to any other slaves, except Rennie. There’d been something in the old woman’s eyes that made Catherine think something else was happening on this plantation.
“I don’t think I can do this,” Rose whispered from the far corner. She sat on the cot and rocked back and forth. “I don’t want to be around some strange man and clean his home.”
“We don’t have a choice,” Charlotte snapped. “We’re slaves. We either do as we’re told or we get tied to a stake, like Catherine did,” she added with a wink. “How bad was it?”
“Honestly I think I passed out after a while,” she said. “Rose, we’ll be fine as long as we stick together. You just have to be strong.”
But Rose wasn’t listening. She kept muttering to herself and rocking back and forth.
Charlotte took Catherine’s elbow and pulled her out of earshot. “We need to start speaking with the other women as soon as we
can.”
“Why? You planning an escape into the ocean?”
“No, but don’t you find this place a bit odd?”
Catherine had been taking note of the island. Besides them arriving at night and the master keeping out of sight, there really wasn’t anything too terribly odd. Except for the mysterious island Dion had mentioned. The place where Michael had been shipped off. And the bleeding, what was wrong with a woman’s monthly bleeding?
“I do find it strange that we are to be at the mansion through the night,” she admitted. “What man likes his house cleaned while he sleeps?”
“Unless he doesn’t sleep at night, but during the day,” Charlotte mused. “Nothing makes sense.”
“What about the island? I need to know where they took Michael. Did you see where they took my brother Liam?”
Charlotte assured Catherine, “He was put into the group that are to be field slaves.” Catherine gave a small smile of relief. Charlotte peeked out the window, “For now we should get some rest, but the moment we’re in that house, we need to get some answers. Agreed?”
Catherine nodded. Normally she would’ve just tried to sit back and mind her manners, do what she was told. But the three months at sea, watching those around her grow sick and perish, watching Michael be taken away, it was too much. Those men had attacked her village. They might not have physically killed her, but her hope and resilience was slowly diminishing. Bit by bit her innocence was slipping away and she had a feeling before long, she would lose it completely.