Yellow Crocus: A Novel Read Online Free Page B

Mattie had accepted readily.
    Rebecca was born in a barn two counties away, on the land of a newly freed white indentured servant. He had purchased Rebecca’s mother, Millie, as his first step in becoming part of the owning class. But Millie and Rebecca did not live in the barn for long. The mistress of the farm soon realized that her husband had fathered Rebecca and insisted that the “whore and her bastard” be sold.
    The large plantation they were sold to was Rebecca’s home until she was eight. Born with her left leg wrapped around her neck, Rebecca was late to walk and did so with an obvious limp. This decreased her owner’s ability to sell her individually, so she became part of a lot of ten slaves sold to fund a grand tour of Europe. Unfortunately Millie was not part of the sale. Fortunately Rebecca was assigned to Mattie’s cabin, where she found a warm welcome in Mattie’s family and became the big sister that four-year-old Mattie longed for.
    Mattie knocked at the rough plank door. Rebecca swung it open and screamed at the sight of Mattie. Surprise and delight shone in her eyes. Pulling Mattie into her large arms, Rebecca held on tight. Sudden tears streamed from Mattie’s eyes as she sank into Rebecca’s warm embrace.
    “There, there, girl. Let it all out. You home now. You okay,” Rebecca murmured as Mattie sobbed into her chest.
    Slowly her tears subsided until Mattie caught her breath and pulled away. She managed to squeak out, “Samuel here?” through her tight throat.
    Rebecca pointed across the room. Samuel sat on Poppy’s lap. Shaking, Mattie rushed across the room to scoop him up. She held her son tight against her heart, taking in his smell as she swayed and murmured endearments into his ear. Her salty tears dropped onto his half-bald head. Samuel arched his head back to look up at the woman holding him.
    “I been tellin’ him all about you so he gonna know you,” Rebecca told Mattie. “We ain’t gonna let him forget you or think you forgot him.”
    Mattie started to cry again. Poppy walked to her, kissed her cheek, and said, “Glad to see you, Mattie. Welcome home.”
    Word flew that Mattie was visiting, and folks stopped by to pay their regards, hear about life in the Big House, and to see what transformation may have been wrought over one of their own. Everyone gathered in the sticky July air on the four wooden benches that formed a square outside Rebecca’s cabin.
    Sarah, Rebecca’s daughter, showed off a newfound skill. A round-faced, cheerful baby with an easy smile, she took great delight in crawling back and forth to the people who waited for her with open arms and proud smiles. Samuel, on the other hand, was young enough to be satisfied sitting with an adult. After a bit of resistance he accepted Mattie’s lap, staring intently at the faces surrounding him.
    Mattie was disappointed that her husband, Emmanuel, was not there to welcome her. This was his usual visiting time of month, but he had not come from Berkeley Plantation. Mattie and Emmanuel were not legally married, since property had no legal rights. But their respective overseers had been happy to have them declare their intention to form a family by jumping the broom since coupled slaves were less likely to run away and usually produced new workers.
    Mattie described the Big House to the field hands, few of whom had ever been inside it. Though they were all familiar with, and somewhat afraid of, the exterior of the large white building visible through the hedges. The most dreaded ritual of the year occurred annually on the grounds in front of the imposing, columned façade of that building. On the first day of the new year all the workers, from the house and the quarters, gathered while Massa and the overseer called out the names of the people that had been sold or rented out for the year.
    “It all bright white inside like the outside, with big stairs in the front of the house for the white folks and small stairs in