Page 65 of Freedom's Kiss
Nokosi dismounted and held up his hands to her. Leaning forward, she slid into his waiting arms. When her feet were firmly on the ground, he stepped away and retrieved Otter. Tickling him under his chin, he handed their son to her. Isaac slid from his horse without a sound and stepped behind her. Nokosi caught her brother’s gaze and held it, communicating without words before finally engaging his tongue. “Keep my family safe.”
He turned then and, back straight, walked out of the cover of the trees and into the open. Soldiers shouted when they spotted him, and Winnie sucked in a breath, her heart stilling in her chest. He raised his hands palms out but continued walking. His voice rose. From the distance she couldn’t make out the words. A door attached to one of the buildings opened, and out stepped a man in military regalia. The man listened before waving his sentries away and allowing Nokosi to step in front of him and into the structure.
She tried to slow her breathing but couldn’t focus past the drumming in her ears. They wouldn’t hurt him, would they? Not in a time of peace? Not when they already had the natives under their thumb?
Isaac must have sensed her distress, because he laid a hand on her shoulder. “He’ll be fine. You’ll see.”
She whipped around to look at him, Otter clutching at her shirt as she swung about. Prying his fingers from around the material, she thrust him at her brother. “I’ve gotta go.”
“What? Winnie, stop,” Isaac hissed, but she’d already picked her way through the underbrush to get behind the building. “Winnie!”
It was a bad idea. Reckless. But need spurred her on.
On silent feet she crouched close to the ground and sprinted across the open space between the wood and the back of the log cabin. No shouts were raised. No guns fired. She sucked in huge lungfuls of air and pressed her ear to the crack between the timbers.
“To what do I owe the honor of this visit?” The man’s voice sounded friendly enough. No edge of threat sliced through his words.
Winnie closed one eye and squinted, trying to see through the small gap between the rough-hewn logs. She could make out shadows mostly, shapes to give her an idea of the layout within. Nokosi stood, his tall frame ramrod straight, while the officer reclined in a chair too small for his bulk. He didn’t seem intimidated or threatened by her husband. In fact, if not for his hand near the gun at his hip holster, she would think him totally at ease.
“My people are starving.” Nokosi got right to the point.
The officer sighed, and Winnie heard the sincerity in the exhale. “That I am sorry for.”
“Apologies will not fill their empty bellies.”
“No, they won’t, will they?” The chair squeaked as he leaned forward. “Look, technically we have fulfilled our end of the treaty. Governor DuVal, on good faith, even began paying your people the allotted five thousand per year before you settled onto the reservation.”
“But the land you forced us on has been uninhabitable, and though we toil the land, it does not produce the food we need for survival.”
“DuVal knows this too. It is why he has written Washington for help. As my position of commander of this post, I too have sent my own missives, alerting the government of your plight and seeking aid.”
“And?”
Silence stretched, and Winnie’s innards cramped. That intuition that bespoke nothing good was to come whispered in her ear.
“I wish I had better news to give you.” The commander sounded resigned. “Though I should keep these words to myself, I will share them with you. There is still a divide among the thinking of those to the north of us, those in power higher up than my own concerning your people and the slaves you yet harbor. Voices are growing and gaining ground that the Seminole and other natives in the land should be moved west of the Mississippi.”
Winnie slapped a hand over her mouth so that her sharp intake of breath would not be heard. Why this news should surprise her, she couldn’t say. All she knew was that a sense of injustice, one that had been her constant companion since birth, rose up and railed in her chest, as if her very ribs were its prison bars. The prodding that had placed Asa’s feet, along with the rest of her family’s, upon the path to escape, the same one that had risen their voices along with the Seminoles’ in a battle cry during the last war, pushed to be released.
The chair creaked again, and this time the fort commander stood. “If your people would hold to the terms of the treaty and return all the slaves in your possession, I am sure the consensus in Washington will turn to your favor. More plantations are being built upon Florida soil every day, bringing in waves of more slaves. These new settlers are worried, and rightly so, that their property will escape into your territory. People argue that there will be a slave rebellion or an Indian uprising, and if these new settlers are heard, even more troops will be sent to ensure peace. But if you return your slaves in good faith…”
“What you and your people callproperty, I call family. I call wife. I call son.” Winnie couldn’t see Nokosi because the military man blocked her small view, but she could hear her husband’s gritted teeth and imagine the tight coil of his body. “Never will they be taken from me as long as my heart pumps lifeblood through my body.”
The commander pressed his fingertips along a desk in the center of the room. “I understand your position. I am sorry your journey here has been in vain, but I encourage you now to return to the reservation.”
Winnie didn’t wait another second. Folding her body in half to get as close to the ground as possible, she traced her footsteps from earlier and returned to Isaac and Otter in the woods. By the time she reached them, her heart pounded, and blood rushed in her ears. Though she wanted to, she couldn’t attribute it to her sprint across the open space or the sliver of worry that she’d be spotted by the guards. No. What had her chest constricting was the knowledge that another storm loomed in the distant horizon for her and her family. Could they weather another such onslaught, or would this be the one that would finally drive their bodies back into the ground from whence they came?
The veins along her brother’s temple pulsed as she came to a stop before him. Needing to assure her son was safe, she plucked Otter from where he drew pictures in the sand with a stick and shifted him onto her lap.
Isaac paced before her, and in that moment, he looked so much like their father.
“What were you thinkin’? Nokosi is gonna scalp me when he hears what you did. He told me to keep you safe.”
She glanced up, half sorry that she’d given him a fright. “I’m unharmed. Your promise to my husband has been fulfilled.”
He cursed under his breath. “That’s not the point, and you know it.” Stopping his pacing, he crouched in front of her, curiosity taking the edge away from his anger. “What did you hear?”
Nokosi’s shadow fell over them, and both looked up guiltily. Winnie felt the displeasure of his glare all the way to her heart.
“We will speak of this later.” He snatched the horse’s ropes from where they’d been ground tied. “For now, we must see to our starving people.”
