A Place Called Freedom Read online

  39

  ON THE MORNING OF THE NEXT DAY, JAY JAMISSON walked his horse down the hill to the James River and looked across the water to the settlement called Lynch's Ferry.

  Jay was exhausted, aching and dispirited. He intensely disliked Binns, the ruffian Lennox had hired in Williamsburg. He was weary of bad food, filthy clothes, long days in the saddle and short nights on the hard ground. In the last few days his hopes had gone up and down like the endless hill tracks he was traveling on.

  He had been tremendously excited when he reached the South River ford and learned that Lizzie and her partners in crime had been forced to turn back. However, he was puzzled about how they had passed him on the road.

  "They turned off the trail somewhere," Deadeye Dobbs had said confidently as they sat in the tavern beside the river. Dobbs had seen the three fugitives the previous day and had recognized Peg Knapp as the missing convict who had killed Burgo Marler.

  Jay supposed he must be right. "But did they go north or south?" he said worriedly.

  "If you're running from the law, south is the direction you need--away from sheriffs and courthouses and magistrates."

  Jay was not so certain. There might be lots of places in the thirteen colonies where an apparently respectable family group--husband, wife and maidservant--could quietly settle down and effectively disappear. But Dobbs's guess seemed more likely.

  He told Dobbs, as he told everyone, that he would pay a reward of fifty English pounds to anyone who arrested the fugitives. The money--enough to buy a small farm out here--had come from his mother. When they parted, Dobbs crossed the ford and went west, toward Staunton. Jay hoped he would spread the word about the reward. If the fugitives managed somehow to give Jay the slip they might yet be caught by others.

  Jay returned to Charlottesville, expecting to find that Lizzie had passed through Charlottesville and turned south. However, the wagon had not been seen again. Jay could only guess they had somehow bypassed Charlottesville and found another route to the southbound Seminole Trail. Gambling on that assumption, he had led his gang along the trail. But the countryside was becoming lonelier, and they met no one who recalled seeing a man, a woman and a young girl on the road.

  However, he had high hopes of getting some information here at Lynch's Ferry.

  They reached the bank and shouted across the fast-moving river. A figure emerged from a building and got into a boat. A rope was stretched from one bank to the other, and the ferry was attached to the rope in an ingenious way so that the pressure of the river's flow drove the boat across the river. When it reached the near bank Jay and his companions led their horses aboard. The ferryman adjusted the ropes and the boat began to move back across.

  The man had the dark clothes and sober manner of a Quaker. Jay paid him and began to question him as they crossed the river. "We're looking for a group of three people: a young woman, a Scotsman of about the same age, and a young girl of fourteen. Have they been through here?"

  The man shook his head.

  Jay's heart sank. He wondered if he was on the wrong track entirely. "Could someone have passed through here without you seeing them?"

  The man took his time replying. Eventually he said: "He'd have to be a heck of a good swimmer."

  "Suppose they crossed the river somewhere else?"

  There was another pause, and he said: "Then they didn't pass through here."

  Binns snickered, and Lennox silenced him with a malevolent glare.

  Jay looked out over the river and cursed under his breath. She had not been seen for six days. She had slipped away from him somehow. She could be anywhere. She could be in Pennsylvania. She could have returned to the East and be on a ship heading for London. He had lost her. She had outwitted him and cheated him of his inheritance. If ever I see her again, by God I'll shoot her in the head, he thought.

  In fact he did not know what he would do if he caught her. He worried at the question constantly as he rode the uneven trails. He knew she would not willingly come back to him. He would have to bring her home bound hand and foot. She might not yield to him even after that: he would probably have to rape her. The thought excited him strangely. On the trail he was disturbed by lascivious memories: the two of them caressing in the attic of the empty Chapel Street house with their mothers outside; Lizzie bouncing on their bed, naked and shameless; making love with Lizzie on top, squirming and moaning. But when she was pregnant, how would he make her stay? Could he lock her away until she gave birth?

  Everything would be much simpler if she died. It was not unlikely: she and McAsh would surely put up a fight. Jay did not think he could murder his wife in cold blood. But he could hope she might get killed in a fight. Then he could marry a healthy barmaid, make her pregnant and take ship for London to claim his inheritance.

  But that was a happy dream. The reality was that when he finally confronted her he would have to make a decision. Either he took her home alive, giving her ample opportunity to frustrate his plans, or he had to kill her.

  How would he dispatch her? He had never killed anyone and had only once used his sword to injure people--at the coal yard riot when he had captured McAsh. Even when he hated Lizzie most he could not imagine plunging a sword into the body he had made love to. He had once trained his rifle on his brother and pulled the trigger. If he had to kill Lizzie it might be best to shoot her from a distance, like a deer. But he was not sure he could manage even that.

  The ferry reached the other side. Alongside the landing was a substantial wood-frame building with two stories and an attic. Several more well-built houses were neatly ranged on the slope that rose steeply from the river. The place seemed a prosperous small trading community. As they disembarked the ferryman said casually: "There's somebody waiting for you all in the tavern."

  "Waiting for us?" said Jay in astonishment. "How did anyone know we were coming?"

  The ferryman answered a different question. "Mean-looking fellow with one closed eye."

  "Dobbs! How did he get here ahead of us?"

  Lennox added: "And why?"

  "Ask him," said the ferryman.

  The news had lifted Jay's spirits and he was eager to solve the riddle. "You men deal with the horses," he ordered. "I'll go and see Dobbs."

  The tavern was the two-story building alongside the ferry dock. He stepped inside and saw Dobbs sitting at a table eating stew from a bowl.

  "Dobbs, what the devil are you doing here?"

  Dobbs raised his good eye and spoke with his mouth full. "I come to claim that reward, Captain Jamisson."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Look over there." He nodded toward the corner.

  There, tied to a chair, was Peg Knapp.

  Jay stared at her. This was a piece of luck! "Where the hell did she come from?"

  "I found her on the road south of Staunton."

  Jay frowned. "Which way was she heading?"

  "North, toward the town. I was coming out of town, going to Miller's Mill."

  "I wonder how she got there."

  "I've asked her, but she won't talk."

  Jay looked again at the girl and saw bruises on her face. Dobbs had not been gentle with her.

  "I'll tell you what I think," Dobbs said. "They came almost this far but they never crossed the river. Instead they turned west. They must have abandoned their wagon somewhere. They went on horseback up the river valley to the Staunton road."

  "But you found Peg on her own."

  "Yes."

  "So you picked her up."

  "It wasn't that easy," Dobbs protested. "She ran like the wind, and every time I grabbed her she slipped through my fingers. But I was on a horse and she wasn't, and in the end she tired."

  A Quaker woman appeared and asked Jay if he wanted something to eat. He waved her away impatiently: he was too eager to question Dobbs. "But how did you get here ahead of us?"

  He grinned. "I came down the river on a raft."

  "There must have been a qu
arrel," Jay said excitedly. "This murdering little bitch left the others and turned north. So the others must have gone south." He frowned. "Where do they imagine they're going?"

  "The road leads to Fort Chiswell. Beyond that there's not much in the way of settled land. Farther south there's a place called Wolf Hills, and after that it's Cherokee country. They aren't going to become Cherokee, so I'd guess they'll turn west at Wolf Hills and head up into the hills. Hunters talk about a pass called Cumberland Gap that leads across the mountains, but I've never been there."

  "What's on the other side?"

  "Wilderness, they say. Good hunting. Kind of a no-man's-land between the Cherokee and the Sioux. They call it the bluegrass country."

  Jay saw it now. Lizzie was planning to start a new life in undiscovered country. But she would fail, he thought excitedly. He would catch her and bring her back--dead or alive.

  "The child is not worth much on her own," he said to Dobbs. "You have to help us catch the other two, if you want your fifty pounds."

  "You want me to be your guide?"

  "Yes."

  "They're a couple of days ahead of you now, and they can travel fast without the wagon. It's going to take you a week or more to catch up."

  "You get the whole fifty pounds if we succeed."

  "I hope we can make up the time before they leave the trail and go off into the wilderness."

  "Amen to that," said Jay.

  40

  TEN DAYS AFTER PEG RAN OFF, MACK AND LIZZIE RODE across a wide, flat plain and reached the mighty Holston River.

  Mack was elated. They had crossed numerous streams and creeks but there was no doubt in his mind that this was the one they were looking for. It was much wider than the others, with a long midstream island. "This is it," he said to Lizzie. "This is the edge of civilization."

  For several days they had felt almost alone in the world. Yesterday they had seen one white man--a trapper--and three Indians on a distant hill; today, no white men and several groups of Indians. The Indians were neither friendly nor hostile: they kept a distance.

  Mack and Lizzie had not passed a cultivated field for a long time. As the farms became fewer, the game had increased: bison, deer, rabbits and millions of edible birds--turkeys, duck, woodcocks and quail. Lizzie shot more than the two of them could eat.

  The weather had been kind. Once it had rained, and they had trudged through mud all day and shivered, soaking wet, all night; but the next day the sun had dried them out. They were saddle-sore and bone-tired, but the horses were holding up, fortified by the lush grass that was everywhere and the oats Mack had bought in Charlottesville.

  They had seen no sign of Jay, but that did not mean much: Mack had to assume he was still following them.

  They watered the horses in the Holston and sat down to rest on the rocky shore. The trail had petered out as they crossed the plain, and beyond the river there was not the faintest sign of a track. To the north the ground rose steadily and in the far distance, perhaps ten miles away, a high ridge rose forbiddingly into the sky. That was where they were headed.

  Mack said: "There must be a pass."

  "I don't see it," said Lizzie.

  "Nor do I."

  "If it isn't there ..."

  "We'll look for another one," he said resolutely.

  He spoke confidently but at heart he was fearful. They were going into unmapped country. They might be attacked by mountain lions or wild bears. The Indians could turn hostile. At present there was plenty of food for anyone with a rifle, but what would happen in the winter?

  He took out his map, though it was proving increasingly inaccurate.

  "I wish we'd met someone who knew the way," Lizzie fretted.

  "We've met several," he said.

  "And each told a different story."

  "They all painted the same picture, though," Mack said. "The river valleys slant from northeast to southwest, just as the map shows, and we have to go northwest, at right angles to the rivers, across a series of high ridges."

  "The problem will be to find the passes that cut through the mountain ranges."

  "We'll just have to zigzag. Wherever we see a pass that could take us north, we go that way. When we come up against a ridge that looks impassable, we turn west and follow the valley, all the time looking out for our next chance to turn north. The passes may not be where this map shows them to be, but they're in there somewhere."

  "Well, there's nothing to do now but try," she said.

  "If we get into trouble we'll have to retrace our steps and try a different route, that's all."

  She smiled. "I'd rather do this than pay calls in Berkeley Square."

  He grinned back. She was ready for anything: he loved that about her. "It beats digging for coal, too."

  Lizzie's face became solemn again. "I just wish Peg was here."

  Mack felt the same way. They had seen no trace of Peg after she had run off. They had hoped they would catch up with her that first day, but it had not happened.

  Lizzie had cried all that night: she felt she had lost two children, first her baby and then Peg. They had no idea where she might be or whether she was even alive. They had done all they could to look for her, but that thought was small consolation. After all he and Peg had been through together, he had lost her in the end. Tears came to his eyes whenever he thought about her.

  But now he and Lizzie could make love every night, under the stars. It was spring, and the weather was mild. Soon they would build their house and make love indoors. After that they had to store up salt meat and smoked fish for the winter. Meanwhile he would clear a field and plant their seeds....

  He got to his feet.

  "That was a short rest," Lizzie said as she stood up.

  "I'll be happier when we're out of sight of this river," Mack said. "Jay might guess our route thus far--but this is where we shake him off."

  Reflexively they both looked back the way they had come. There was no one in sight. But Jay was on that road somewhere, Mack felt sure.

  Then he realized they were being watched.

  He had seen a movement out of the corner of his eye and now he saw it again. Tensing, he slowly turned his head.

  Two Indians were standing just a few yards away.

  This was the northern edge of Cherokee country, and they had been seeing the natives at a distance for three days, but none had approached them.

  These two were boys about seventeen years old. They had the straight black hair and reddish tan skin characteristic of the original Americans, and wore the deerskin tunic and trousers the new immigrants had copied.

  The taller of the two held out a large fish like a salmon. "I want a knife," he said.

  Mack guessed the two of them had been fishing in this river. "You want to trade?" Mack said.

  The boy smiled. "I want a knife."

  Lizzie said: "We don't need a fish, but we could use a guide. I'll bet he knows where the pass is."

  That was a good idea. It would be a tremendous relief to know where they were going. Mack said eagerly: "Will you guide us?"

  The boy smiled, but it was obvious he did not understand. His companion remained silent and still.

  Mack tried again. "Will you be our guide?"

  He began to look troubled. "No trade today," he said doubtfully.

  Mack sighed in frustration. He said to Lizzie: "He's an enterprising kid who's learned a few English phrases but can't really speak the language." It would be maddening to get lost here just because they could not communicate with the local people.

  Lizzie said: "Let me try."

  She went to one of the pack horses, opened a leather satchel, and took out a long-bladed knife. It had been made at the forge on the plantation, and the letter "J," for Jamisson, was burned into the wood of the handle. It was crude by comparison with what you could buy in London, but no doubt it was superior to anything the Cherokee could make themselves. She showed it to the boy.

  He smiled broadly. "I'l
l buy that," he said, and reached for it.

  Lizzie withdrew it.

  The boy offered the fish and she pushed it away. He looked troubled again.

  "Look," Lizzie said. She bent over a large stone with a flat surface. Using the point of the knife she began to scratch a picture. First she drew a jagged line. She pointed at the distant mountains, then at the line. "This is the ridge," she said.

  Mack could not tell whether the boy understood or not.

  Below the ridge she drew two stick figures, then pointed at herself and Mack. "This is us," she said. "Now--watch carefully." She drew a second ridge, then a deep V-shape joining the two. "This is the pass," she said. Finally she put a stick figure in the V. "We need to find the pass," she said, and she looked expectantly at the boy.

  Mack held his breath.

  "I'll buy that," the boy said, and he offered Lizzie the fish.

  Mack groaned.

  "Don't lose hope," Lizzie snapped at him. She addressed the Indian again. "This is the ridge. This is us. Here's the pass. We need to find the pass." Then she pointed at him. "You take us to the pass--and you get the knife."

  He looked at the mountains, then at the drawing, then at Lizzie. "Pass," he said.

  Lizzie pointed at the mountains.

  He drew a V-shape in the air, then pointed through it. "Pass," he said again.

  "I'll buy that," Lizzie said.

  The boy grinned broadly and nodded vigorously.

  Mack said: "Do you think he got the message?"

  "I don't know." She hesitated, then took her horse's bridle and began to walk on. "Shall we go?" she said to the boy with a gesture of invitation.

  He started to walk beside her.

  "Hallelujah!" said Mack.

  The other Indian came too.

  They struck out along the bank of a stream. The horses settled into the steady gait that had brought them five hundred miles in twenty-two days. Gradually the distant ridge loomed larger, but Mack saw no sign of a pass.

  The terrain rose remorselessly, but the ground seemed less rough, and the horses went a little faster. Mack realized the boys were following a trail only they could see. Letting the Indians take the lead, they continued to head straight for the ridge.

  They went all the way to the foot of the mountain and suddenly turned east then, to Mack's enormous relief, they saw the pass. "Well done, Fish Boy!" he said joyfully.