Darkness

March 27, 1812

Abigail

Arriving again at Natchez, I realize that it is starting to feel normal. Not boring, I don’t think any of this would ever be boring, but it feels like a predictable part of the routine of our lives. We are already settling into our back and forth pattern.

I’m glad to know that Gregor and Rosy will always be here in Natchez to greet us. It is nice to have friends on both ends of our route. Although on the other end, in New Orleans, we’ll be losing our dearest friends very soon, when Lydia and Nicholas depart for New York. I’m pleased to have at least gotten to know Laura and Elizabeth, so that I will still have somebody to talk to while we are at the port there.

For now, I’m looking forward to spending some time with the Slavsons, maybe using their guest room for a night or two while we are in town.

As always, Gregor’s entire crew has gathered already on the steamboat dock, waiting for us to pull up, somehow guessing the exact timing of our arrival. I look around at the men there, and see Gregor, but not wearing his usual giant grin. He is standing towards the back of the group, hands in pockets, just gazing at us as his men grab the mooring ropes that our crew tosses to them, and fasten us to the poles.

His crew immediately launches into action once the gangplank is lowered, beginning to assist the passengers as they disembark, but there is something muted about the way they are acting today. They are always such a noisy and jolly crew, but today they just seem to be efficiently taking care of business.

Maybe it is starting to seem routine to them too.

Gregor waits to come onboard the ship until the passengers have been directed to their destinations, and his crew is starting to go back and forth to the hold to unload the cargo. He greets me with a little smile and a nod. “Good morning, Abigail, welcome back to Natchez,” he says, and his voice seems muted too. He seems different somehow, not exactly sad, maybe just somewhat less buoyant than usual.

I look at him curiously, but I just say, “Thank you. It’s nice to see you.”

Baker comes over and shakes his hand. “Hello, Gregor, how are you?”

He shrugs, and doesn’t answer the question. What is going on? “Would the two of you like to use my guest room while you’re here this time? It’s available.”

Baker looks at me, and I nod, and he says, “Sure, thank you, it’s always appreciated to get to stay in a real bed on solid land. I won’t be ready to leave for a while, but Abigail might.” He looks down at me. “Want to go on ahead?”

That is exactly what I want. I need to get a chance to talk to Rosy. I know that she’ll tell me why Gregor and his crew seem to be acting oddly this morning. I hope nothing is wrong, but I think I can rely on Rosy to be honest with me. “Yes, I’d love to go visit Rosy and the baby. Oh! And Tiger! Is he up there too?”

Gregor nods, and says “Yep. I’m not quite ready to go home either, but I can have one of my men drive you up in a wagon if you like.”

I quirk my head at him. “No, I’d like to have a walk. It always feels nice after being on the boat.”

He beckons over to one of the crewmen, and tells him, “Please escort Mrs. Baker to my house.” He looks over at me, and adds, “He can carry your bag for you.”

“Um, all right. Thank you,” I say. I’m perfectly capable of walking up on my own, and carrying my own bag. I really do feel like this visit is getting off to a strange start.

I’m not sure if Baker has noticed anything amiss. He kisses me goodbye after I duck into our cabin to grab my overnight bag, and tells me that he’ll be along in a few hours. I know he and Gregor need to coordinate some details about the cargo and such.

“We’ll see you soon,” Gregor says quietly as I follow his man down the gangplank.

Yeah, I have questions for Rosy.

Rosy

“Knock knock!” I hear her call out as Nadine answers the door. Is that…? I look up from where Sarah and I are sitting on the floor next to Vernon, watching him squirm around on the area rug in front of the fireplace.

Yes! It is Abigail!

I get up and move over to welcome her. “Abigail! How nice to see you! Did your boat just get in?”

She takes my hands with a nod and a smile. “Yes, we just arrived, and Gregor offered us your guest room again. So here I am!”

David from Gregor’s crew nods his head at me, and ducks inside the door long enough to put down Abigail’s bag. Ben has come in from the kitchen to see who has arrived. He sees David standing there. “David!” he greets him with a smile. They are good friends. “I guess the boat’s back?”

“Yep. Gotta get down there and help offload.”

Ben sighs a little. I know he misses the rest of the crew sometimes. David grins. “Don’t worry,” he assures him, “we’ll manage without you somehow. You just stay up here and do … whatever it is you do,” he says, waving his hand vaguely in the air. Then he laughs and scooches back out the door like he’s afraid he’s about to get smacked.

Ben is laughing and shaking his head as the door closes. He grabs Abigail’s bag. “Shall I put this upstairs?”

“Please,” I say.

Nadine has bustled off into the kitchen, where I’m sure she is preparing refreshments. Abigail has barely made it in through the door before Tiger comes pounding in from the study and accosts her with a frenzy of sniffing and panting and wagging.

“Oh, it’s so good to see you, you huge hound!” she says, patting him just as enthusiastically. It makes me snort a little, knowing that is what Gregor calls Wolk sometimes.

We get him to settle down, and are soon sitting in the parlor, sipping tea, while she holds Vernon in her lap. He waves his little arm around, and it looks like he’s trying to grab the cup out of her hand, and we laugh at how cute it is.

“So,” Abigail says, “what was with the escort? My bag wasn’t heavy, I could have carried it myself. Gregor didn’t need to take someone away from unloading the boat.”

Oh. It occurs to me that Abigail has just enough of a dusky complexion that Gregor was worried that the slave patrol might harass her if they caught her walking alone. “Um,” I hesitate for a moment, glancing over at Sarah, “there’s been some trouble since you were in town last time.”

Her eyebrows lift. “I admit that I was noticing that everyone seemed a little, I don’t know, grimmer than usual today. I was wondering what was up.”

I sigh, wondering where to start. It’s such a tangle.

She watches me trying to figure out what to say, and suggests, “Just tell me everything. From the beginning.”

I’m a little concerned about talking about it all in front of Sarah, but when I look over at her, she shrugs and nods, giving me permission to tell her tale.

So I tell Abigail everything. At least everything that I can without revealing Gregor’s secrets. Sarah even adds a few details.