Queen

morning call.

  Harris, meanwhile, had come to another conclusion. Loathing the power that

  Annie had over him, detesting his weak body for its fascination with her,

  appalled that he had exposed his need for her, in daylight, in public, he

  knew there was only one way to save himself from a violent action toward

  Annie that might get him into trouble.

  He had to be rid of her.

  21

  As it transpired, Cap'n Jack's timing could not possibly have been worse.

  In the November elections, Andrew had won a slight majority of the

  popular vote, but not enough to give him victory in the electoral

  college. According to the Constitution, the matter would now be decided

  in the House of Representatives, state by state. The three contenders

  were Andrew, John Quincy Adams, and William Crawford, secretary of the

  treasury.

  The kingmaker would be Henry Clay, who had also run for president but was

  not one of the final three. Clay's votes, and his influence on the

  states, would dramatically affect the outcome.

  James was astonished that Andrew had not won. The people loved him, and

  his supporters had been the most strident and demonstrative. That he had

  not been swept into office was proof to James that many doubted Andrew's

  suitability. He knew he was staring at the weightiest decision of his

  life. James still expected that Andrew would win, but did not know if he

  would continue to support him. In the weeks before Christmas he had

  received several important visitors who shared his doubts, not the least

  being Henry Clay himself, who was on his way home to Kentucky.

  The two men knew each other of old, for Henry had been a sometime visitor

  to the Hermitage in James's Nashville days, and Henry junior, his son,

  was a good friend of James's.

  Henry Clay expressed his delight with The Forks of Cypress. He had heard

  much of it from his son, who had helped find the artisans to build it.

  He listened sympathetically when James told him of his problem with his

  slaves, and agreed that a strong hand, and a strong overseer, were vital

  to the effective functioning of the system.

  175

  176 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN

  But he was not there to talk about slaves.

  "A muddy result," he said, speaking of the election.

  "Andrew?" James asked.

  Henry was silent for a moment. He had bitterly opposed Andrew's actions in

  the Florida campaign, had denounced the hanging of the missionaries, and

  had been the prime mover of the ill-fated congressional reprimand.

  "Perhaps," he said.

  Quietly but eloquently, he listed his reasons for not wanting Andrew in the

  president's office. It was old ground, involving Andrew's personality and

  behavior, but Henry made it sound damning.

  "These are difficult times," Henry concluded. "We need a temperate man, I

  say, not an uncaged lion."

  "Who?" James was thrilled. He felt as if he were being included in the real

  election process, the other election, the secret election by powerful men

  who decided affairs of state behind closed doors.

  Henry shrugged. "John Quincy Adams, perhaps."

  Adams was the son of the second president, the successor to George

  Washington.

  "He is from New England, and it would make those states happy not to have

  a Southerner for president. It has only happened once before."

  Henry adopted his most honeyed voice.

  " In the end, of course, " he smiled, " it all depends on you.

  James laughed. "Me?"

  "You and others like you," Henry said. "For the states have the power now,

  which is as it should be."

  They talked for some hours about the country and its welfare and the

  electoral process. Again Henry spoke of his dislike for Andrew, and gently,

  very gently, raised the matter of the Indian treaties.

  "There are even rumors of bribes paid by Andrew, and if that is true, the

  treaties could be annulled."

  He let it hang in the air for a moment.

  "If bribery could be proven."

  James stared at the floor.

  "But these are only rumors," Henry said, changing his tone. "And but a

  small part of the larger portrait of Andrew."

  BLOODLINES 177

  He had made his point clearly and effectively, without needing to stress

  it. Word of the bribes to the Indians had leaked out, and James was

  panicking. He did not know how much anyone else suspected.

  Henry declined James's hospitality for the night, as he had friends at

  the Nashville Inn, and left before sundown.

  James did not know what to do. He knew Henry had flattered him, that his

  would be only one small voice in the outcome of his state's decision

  regarding the presidency, but every voice counted now.

  Andrew in the president's office was dangerous, for many, many reasons,

  but Andrew was his friend, Andrew was responsible for much of his

  fortune. Just as Andrew could be responsible for his downfall. If

  evidence of the bribes was found, James's part in the affair would be

  exposed. If the treaties could be annulled, that left much of his land

  ownership open to question.

  He shivered in fear, and slept badly for the next few nights.

  On Christmas Day, the security was reduced to allow the guards time with

  their families. Six slaves took advantage of this and escaped. When James

  heard the news, he shouted his wrath at Harris, who accepted his

  displeasure, but defended his position.

  "Things were too easy here for too long," he said. "And it was special

  circumstances, being Christmas Day."

  He promised the return of the slaves, and James approved the expenditure

  for the slave catchers. Harris left, and James sat at his desk in

  despair. The plantation could not function effectively if things

  continued like this, and that put his income at risk. The rumors of the

  bribes were even more distressing, for they put his holdings at risk.

  He talked to Sally.

  Sally was worried about the runaways, because she thought Harris had put

  an end to all that, but agreed the circumstances were special. Things had

  been better since Harris had become overseer. There had been less

  trouble, and, over the past month, fewer beatings and floggings.

  "Perhaps that is the problem," James said bitterly.

  Sally calmed him down, and tried to put his problems in

  178 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN

  perspective for him. She guessed that the situation with Andrew was vexing

  him most.

  "Why not let Andrew decide?" she suggested.

  They had to go to Nashville in the new year, to settle A.J. at his school.

  James could call on Andrew at the Hermitage, explain his doubts, and listen

  to Andrew's answer.

  James smiled and shook his head in wonder.

  "You always see things so clearly," he said. Hers was the best possible

  solution, because James would force Andrew to make the decision. All Andrew

  had to do was ask, and s
et James's mind at rest, and he would be given what

  he wanted.

  Still, it troubled him to confront Andrew, and he puzzled how he would tell

  his friend that he had doubts about him. As the day of their departure

  approached his mood became more volatile again, and the absence of news

  about the runaway slaves kept him angry.

  The slaves were caught, fifty miles away. They would be brought back to The

  Forks.

  "Get rid of them!" James said. "I do not want them on my property. "

  "A couple of 'em are good workers," Harris protested, but James cut him

  short.

  "Sell and buy as you see fit!" He was shouting, and reminded Harris that he

  had said he needed only six months to bring the slaves to order. "By the

  time I come back from Nashville I want this plantation functioning

  efficiently and effectively."

  "I'll need authority while you are away," Harris said, smarting at his

  employer's wrath.

  James signed the necessary papers, and Harris left. James punched his chair

  in his frustration.

  Sensibly, Cap'n Jack had not approached James while the slaves were missing,

  for he knew his Massa's temper. The news that the runaways had been caught

  emboldened him, and he wanted to resolve his personal dilemma before James

  left for Nashville.

  "What is it?" James snapped. Cap'n Jack should have known then, at that

  moment, that this was not the time. But his desperation to be free made him

  unwise, and he had con-

  BLOODLINES 179

  vinced himself that James would readily fulfill his promise.

  "I want my freedom," Cap'n Jack said.

  James could not believe his ears. At some other time he might have

  listened more sympathetically, but it was loyalty that he wanted from his

  slaves now, not disavowal.

  "You made a promise," Cap'n Jack continued, but James cut him off.

  "I said that if you served me loyally and well, I would consider it, but

  this is not the time."

  It was incomprehensible to Cap'n Jack. It was impossible that he could

  have done more. The Massa had everything he could want, a fine house and

  plantation, a family, sons to succeed him, wealth and position. What more

  could he want from Cap'n Jack?

  "The plantation is in uproar, the slaves rebellious," James insisted. "if

  ever I needed your loyalty, it is now!"

  Cap'n Jack hardly heard him. His mind was awash with disappointment and

  bitterness.

  "You breakin' yo' word," he said.

  James almost hit him.

  "How dare you say that to me? Remember your place, man! "

  "You promised!" Cap'n Jack was desperate.

  "Get out! " James shouted. "Get out of my sight!"

  Cap'n Jack looked at him dumbfounded. Tears of rage filled his eyes, but

  he did as he was told. He left the room, left the house, and went to

  Annie.

  He clung to her, choking with emotion. It had all been a pipe dream. The

  promise had been the old lie, the white man's lie, and he had been fool

  enough to believe him.

  Annie held him, and stroked him, and whispered love in his ear. After a

  while he quieted, and sat in a chair and stared at the wall. At nothing.

  James called Harris to him, in his study.

  "Cap'n Jack has been insolent," he said. "Put him in the fields for a

  week." It was a euphemism they all used. Little work was done in the

  fields in winter, but the hands were kept busy in the barns, and fixing

  the outbuildings.

  Harris was pleased by the turn of events. It was his chance

  180 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN

  to break a house nigger, and it had curious implications for his obsession

  with Annie.

  "That won't break him," Harris said.

  "Then do what you must," James snapped, scarcely able to control his anger.

  Harris nodded and turned to leave.

  "But do not sell him away," James said quietly.

  Even at this pitch of rage, he remembered all Cap'n Jack had done for him,

  and his affection for the man, and had to believe he would keep his promise

  to Cap'n Jack, one day. He was a man of his word.

  James and Sally, with A.J. and Sassy, left the following morning for

  Nashville. They did not take the older girls, for it would make the

  carriage crowded, and they did not take Jass. He had a slight chill, and

  Sally worried that the long journey and the cold weather would not suit the

  boy.

  James, after a night's sleep, was feeling less hostile to Cap'n Jack, but

  he could not countermand his order to Harris without looking weak.

  "He is a good man," he said to Harris, "and has served me well. Do not be

  too hard on him. A few days in the fields, perhaps. "

  Harris nodded. He had his orders. He had acted on them the night before. He

  and his brother Albert had gone to the weaving house, put manacles on Cap'n

  Jack, and taken him to the shed. They left him there, chained to a post,

  for the night.

  Before they left the weaving house, Harris stared at Annie, who was

  clutching Easter. He said nothing to her-the stare was enough-and then they

  took Cap'n Jack away.

  Annie stayed where she was, holding Easter, incapable of speech or

  movement. She tried to remember her curse, but could not, because she was

  too frightened of what the night might bring. It might bring Harris. She

  lay awake in fear all night, and when he did not come to her, she was even

  more scared, for she knew it boded evil.

  "Just a few days in the fields," James said to Harris again, before he got

  into the carriage.

  Harris nodded again.

  James settled in the carriage. Ephraim, who was driving, flicked the reins

  and they clattered away.

  BLOODLINES 181

  James sat in the carriage staring out at the empty cotton fields. He

  was dreading Nashville. He wasn't sure how he was going to tell

  Andrew, who was dearer than a father to him, that he didn't love him

  anymore.

  22

  The runaways came back the following day, chained together, and already

  beaten bloody by the slave catchers. One had been given a rough crutch,

  because he was almost unable to walk. His leg had been badly tom by the

  hounds.

  They stumbled into the clearing and fell to their knees. Harris made them

  stand up, and left them there, while he and his brother assembled the

  other slaves.

  Harris went to the shed and unchained Cap'n Jack, but left his manacles

  on. He threw a bucket of water over him to reduce the smell of his mess,

  and dragged him outside with the others. He chained Cap'n Jack to a tree.

  All the field hands were assembled in the clearing, staring at the

  runaways, trying not to imagine what might happen to any of them next.

  Harris separated the two he intended to keep and ordered his brother to

  give them twenty lashes apiece. He would not flog the ones he intended

  to sell, and was furious with the catchers for marking them.
Slaves who

  were thought to be troublemakers did not fetch the best price.

  The floggings began, and those who watched wept for their brothers, but

  did not cry out as loudly as those being punished. Their screams reached

  the house, and the slaves there, and from the stables, crept out to see,

  but kept their distance.

  Both men being flogged fainted, and water was thrown over them. When it

  was done they were dragged away to the shed, and chained up, and a woman

  sent to rub salt into their wounds, to stop the bleeding.

  Everyone waited.

  182 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN

  It was a cold day, and the runaways were shivering. Harris simply walked

  along the line, inspecting them, and trying to evaluate what the catchers'

  beatings had cost him.

  They waited for an hour, and then the auctioneer arrived in his cart with

  his men. There was no official slave market in Florence, but an

  enterprising retired overseer had set up a lucrative business, providing

  and disposing of slaves, as an agent for the larger cities.

  Fear danced through Cap'n Jack's heart and mind. He could not believe the

  Massa would let him be sold.

  "These four?" the auctioneer asked, and Harris nodded.

  "And him," he said, pointing to Willis, whose brother Henry had run away

  the previous year, and had never been found.

  "I ain't done nuttin'!" Willis cried, and clung to his woman.

  "You're a troublemaker like your brother," Harris said. The men dragged

  Willis away from his screaming wife. Willis fought and punched, but they

  knocked him senseless and put him in the cart with the runaways.

  Harris watched impassively, and then turned and stared at Cap'n Jack.

  "And him," he said, pointing to a young, rough giant, Abel, who knew no one

  at The Forks and went quietly. He didn't care where he went, or whom he

  served; slavery was slavery, no matter who the Massa was, and one day he

  would be free.

  Harris did not take his eyes off Cap'n Jack. Despite the cold, Cap'n Jack

  was sweating, shivering, praying that his knees would not give way.

  "Fetch the woman," Harris said softly to Albert, who nodded at two

  catchers, and they went to the weaving house.

  Slowly it dawned on Cap'n Jack, and a rage greater than any rage he had

  ever known filled him, and a fear, and an overwhelming despair.

  "No!" he cried, from the pit of his soul.

  Harris stared at him.

  To Harris it was simple. James had said he had failed at his job, and

  Harris agreed. He had not brought order in six months, and since he could

  not blame himself and his methods, he had to find a scapegoat.

  BLOODLINES 183

  Annie.

  If Annie had such a powerful effect on him, a righteous white man, what

  effect did she have on the licentious blacks? She was a whore, like all

  nigra women, who had bewitched him. So she must be a troublemaker,

  causing dissension among the hands, causing them to fight each other for

  possession of her, just as he would have fought any man to take her as

  his own. Women were the root of all evil, foul temptresses, wanton

  harlots, and he could not maintain order and discipline as long as she

  was at The Forks. So he would tell the Massa.

  In any case, it would be too late when James returned. She would be gone,

  gone with her strumpet, lascivious ways, gone from his mind, gone from

  his flesh, gone from his lust, forever.

  They bought Annie from the weaving house. She held Easter in her arms,

  and was not struggling because she did not know what was going to happen

  to her. Even if she had known, she might not have struggled. She had

  never struggled against her fate before, and she had never believed that

  her happiness with Cap'n Jack would last.

  Cap'n Jack saw her and began shouting at her, telling her to run, to get

  away, begging someone, anyone, for help. He pulled at his chains, but

  they held fast to the tree. He used all his strength to jerk on them, to

  break them, to get free, like a crazed puppet unable to be rid of his

  confining strings.

  Women were crying now, not because they loved Annie, but because it might

  happen to any of them.

  Annie accepted what they did to her, because there was nothing she could