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.In the end he gave her a brief kiss on the lips and quickly headed for the door, trying not to look at her confused face.Chapter 26August 10, 1696St.Michael’s TownBarbadosThomas knocked at the door and looked around while he waited for it to be opened.The sun was beginning to go down since he had left home in the afternoon with the plan to spend the weekend in town.Elizabeth had been less than pleased when he’d told her not to expect him back until Sunday evening.He could see that in the month Sarah and Deborah had lived here they had done a lot of improvements to the property.Down below in the garden were barrels cut in half with small plants in them which he assumed were Deborah’s herbs.They had also planted some flowers which added color to the well kept yard.The door opened and Sarah peeped around it.Her face broke into a welcoming smile and he stepped inside as she opened the door wider to let him in.She looked as happy to see him as he was to see her.“I missed you Sarah.” He pulled her into his arms for a hug, surprised at how good it was to hold her and see her so happy and content.“I missed you too Master Thomas,” she said taking his hat and coat and the small bag that he had brought.“You spending the weekend?”“Yes and you don’t have to call me Master any more Sarah,” he reminded her.“It’s hard to change, Thomas,” she said deliberately, smiling again.“May I get you a drink or something to eat?”“No, thanks Sarah, I don’t want anything just yet.Only you,” he said, pulling her into his arms again.The sound of someone entering the hallway stopped him and he looked over Sarah’s shoulder to see Deborah looking somewhat embarrassed to see her mother in his arms.“Hello Deborah,” he greeted, releasing Sarah reluctantly.Thomas had never embraced Sarah in front of Deborah and it was strange to see.“Hello, Master Thomas.How have you been?”“I’ve been better.I missed your mother terribly,” he confessed, unable to resist pulling Sarah to his side again.He realized that it was true.He had called for Hattie a couple of times in the month but she was not Sarah.“You want to see what we did with the house?” asked Sarah excitedly.“By all means,” he said.The ladies proudly showed him the living room, the small parlor and the kitchen which they had decorated with curtains, rugs and colorful cushions and then took him downstairs to see the shop which was only partly stocked since they were waiting for their first shipment of goods to arrive.“Have you made contact with the merchants I suggested through my lawyer?” he asked Deborah.“Yes, we made some orders so we’re waiting for them to come in but my mother bought some material from one of the shops and has been sewing already and people are beginning to come in and buy whatever teas I have available.I also planted some herbs.”“Good, good.Where are Jacko and Mamie?”“We gave them the evening off.” Thomas looked disapprovingly at them but kept his mouth shut since he did not have the right to tell them anything anymore.“It all looks very nice,” he complimented instead.“Let me see what you did with your room,” he hinted to Sarah.Deborah smiled slightly and excused herself, saying that she would go and start dinner.A while later Sarah lay with her head on Thomas’ chest, idly playing with the graying hair that liberally covered it.“Thomas?”“Hmm?” he responded lazily.“I want to ask you something.”“What is it?” He waited.“How is it that when you owned us you were so good to me and to Deborah but at the same time you could order one of the field slaves to be whipped for running away or for stealing or sell one of their children without thinking how they felt?”Thomas was silent for such a long time that Sarah thought he wouldn’t answer.Had she gone too far with her questions? She started to move from his arms but he tightened them around her, keeping her where she was.“I don’t know how to answer that Sarah.Thinking how they felt never came into it.They are just slaves.You and Deborah are different.You are more like one of us.”“We’re all the same,” she said quietly.“Maybe it’s just that when you don’t know people, when you don’t mix with them, they seem like they different.But we’re all the same,” she repeated.“The pain I would feel if you had taken Deborah away from me and sold her is the pain any mother would feel, whether she work in the house or in the field, whether she is pure black or she mixed with white.And the pain Deborah felt when Jethro flogged her is the same pain that the field slaves feel when they get flogged.”Thomas thought about that for a long time.Years of prejudice battled with the truth of what she was saying and finally he admitted, “I suppose you’re right, Sarah.”“I know I right.”Two months laterDeborah looked around the shop with appreciation.Deborah’s Health and Beauty Shop and Sarah's Sewing Emporium were doing well.She had just got a shipment of new herbal teas which she displayed in large glass jars ready to sell in smaller portions to her customers.The soaps she had made would soon need to be restocked as there were only a few bars left and she was expecting a shipment from France.She smiled at that.Who would have believed that she, who had been a slave just months ago, would now be ordering soaps and perfumes from France for her own shop?At first they were regarded with a bit of wariness by the merchants on their street.After all it was not common for two free colored women to own a shop in Town.However one day, a distraught woman had run into the shop asking for herbs to help her daughter who was suffering from a terrible tummy ache and nothing would help her.Deborah made up a small packet of herbs and gave her instructions how to prepare the tea.The next day the woman came back to thank her and tell her that the tea had worked.After that incident the merchants’ wives began to patronize their shop.They had also got to know some of the slaves of the merchants in Town and a few free colored people that they could count on one hand.Jacko and Mamie were a tremendous help, even though Jacko only had the one hand Deborah was glad that the master had insisted on giving them to Sarah.It was not that she liked the idea of owning slaves but she could not imagine how they would handle the heavy lifting or how she would have time to make her soaps and work in the shop as well without them.Deborah was just about to lock the door for the day when Jacko came in from running some errands and said: “Mistress Sarah, I just heard that they having a Quaker meeting tomorrow night at the Brown’s boarding house.""It must be like the one Jethro told us about,” she said."Yes.A man and woman named George and Margaret Baxter are staying with them and they tell me to invite you all to the meeting tomorrow night.It’s to start at nine so that some of the slaves could sneak out when the masters gone to sleep.”"So late? You think it safe to go Jacko?” asked Sarah.“Yes.I can take you all.”Deborah was curious to hear more from this group of people who were bold enough to speak out against the treatment of slaves and she was happy to know that they were being included by their new friends.She hoped they could explain more about what Jethro had told them.Now that she was free from slavery, she was more willing to hear about being free from sin."Let's go and hear them, ma," she urged.Sarah was reluctant since she didn't want to get into any trouble."Alright, we will go."The Next NightJacko, Deborah, Sarah and Mamie walked quietly down the road to the Brown's boarding house [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]