Page 52 of A Fire in Their Hearts

I find Tamar in the kitchen turning the handle on a butter churn.

She’s growing into an astonishingly beautiful woman and although I’ve not expressed my fears to Shoshana, I wonder just how long it will be before Drummond forces her to his bed.

I think she’s too young to be in danger yet and I don’t know what good it will actually do warning her.

‘How’s Master Drummond?’ she asks.

I sit nearby at the table. ‘He’s suffering the same illness as the others and there’s probably very little anyone can do. It’s in God’s hands.’

‘Why does God let good people die and bad people live?’

‘I’m not sure. Perhaps God calls the good people to Heaven.’

‘Why?’

‘Maybe because it’s their time and they’ve completed their task on earth.’

She seems to accept this and carries on with her task, while I wonder how to broach the subject I want to discuss.

‘Tamar .?.?. has your mother spoken to you about Master Drummond and how he has no respect for women? He takes them to his bed against their will and forces himself upon them as a man can do to a woman because he’s stronger. Does this make sense?’

She’s still turning the handle and I want to take hold of her to have all of her attention because she doesn’t realise the seriousness of what I’m trying to explain. ‘You must be careful around the master, in particular as you get older and more like a woman.’

‘The master won’t hurt me.’

‘He will, Tamar. I fear so much that one day he will do something terrible.’

‘He likes me.’

Her innocence almost makes me cry. ‘Yes, I’m sure he does. You remind me of Calum when he was a boy and so beautiful and innocent and unaware of how likeable he was.’

‘The master had Calum whipped, didn’t he? That wasn’t a good thing to do. But he won’t hurt me.’

‘You can’t be sure of such a thing.’

Tamar finally stops turning the churn. ‘Violet, don’t you know?’

‘What?’

‘The master’s my father.’

I stare at her in utter shock, unable to believe how blind I’ve been. The instant she utters these words I can see in her features the resemblance to a younger, handsome Drummond, before drink and power reduced him to what he is today. How could I have been so stupid?

‘Do others know?’

‘Everyone,’ she says with a shrug. She steps closer and lowers her voice even though we’re the only two here.

‘I once saw the master go mad when the overseer made a bad comment about me. He slammed Mister McKinnon against the wall so hard that a plate fell off a shelf and smashed on the floor. Then master threatened he would shoot any man with his own hand if he considered they had treated me incorrectly. Mister McKinnon was really scared. Even the other plantation owners treat me courteously and they’re powerful men. ’

I have no words to speak and hug her tightly, but then start crying and it’s a long time before I stop. Eventually, I let her go and rub my hands briskly over my face.

‘Well, now that the master has banned everyone from the house except us we’re going to have to work out how best to take care of him – and also ourselves. We need to be able to eat. I’ll sort out with Rory that we get food delivered each day.’

‘Violet, there’s more food in the pantry than we two could eat if we lived to be a hundred!’

‘Oh, perhaps you need to show me around so that I have a better understanding.’

And so Tamar takes me around downstairs, opening door after door upon rooms filled with the most beautiful furniture hand-made from exotic woods, intricate silver clocks, ornate rugs and the paintings of masters that must have been purchased from the leading manufacturers, craftsmen and auction houses of Europe.

There is not one single item that could be considered ordinary, no matter how mundane its function.

Yet apart from in the drawing room all the tables, cabinets and other items are covered in a thick layer of dust. I run my finger along several surfaces, puzzled.

‘Most of the rooms don’t appear to be used,’ I say to Tamar when we arrive back in the kitchen.

‘No. Master Drummond mainly keeps to his bedroom, the study and the drawing room. It’s only when he’s hosting an event that lots of us have to clean and polish beforehand.’

‘Can you get a message to Rory that he’s to come to the house twice a day and update me on what’s happening? I want to know how the illness is progressing on the plantation and around the island. I’ll do the work of taking care of Master Drummond so you don’t need to go into his bedroom.’

At that moment Drummond can be heard calling. I take a large breath.

‘We have a lot of work to do.’

*?*?*

The next morning I meet Rory outside the front door and immediately know that something bad has happened.

‘Alan died during the night,’ he says. ‘It’s what I expected when I saw he had turned so yellow. I stayed with him until the end, although he didn’t know I was there.’

‘He knew, Rory,’ I say. ‘Some part of him knew. Thank you for being there. What about the others?’

‘The child is very sick, but the woman seems better. The men are pretty much as they were yesterday. Those unaffected are working in the fields or elsewhere as normal. How’s Drummond?’

It’s a dangerous thing to do but neither Rory nor I can bear to refer to him as master if we’re alone.

‘A bad night but his colour is normal. I’m trying to stop him drinking so much brandy.’

‘That’ll be a challenge. You look awful, Violet. Are you ill?’

‘No, just tired. And .?.?.’

‘Duncan?’

‘Yes. I wouldn’t have slept, even without having to take care of Drummond. For all those months I thought I had a monster growing inside me.’

‘All babies are innocent.’

‘You’ve not heard some of our ministers talk about predestination. According to them we’re each of us born guilty.’

‘I’ve heard them .?.?. ministers, priests, preachers. They tell you to believe completely different things because they don’t really know and only say what suits them.’

‘You’ve no faith?’

‘Lost it long ago, along with my wife and friends, my freedom and hope.’

‘What keeps you going?’

He’s silent for a while then he gives me an answer that I suspect he’s not given anyone. ‘That of everything I’ve lost, one day, I can at least regain my freedom.’

*?*?*

Three days later, Drummond sits up in bed, slurping the broth I made earlier based upon a recipe that my mother always used if someone was sick.

‘This is good. I’ve never gone so long without eating.’

‘You should have tried being held prisoner as a Covenanter. People died from lack of food and water.’

He gives a scornful grunt. ‘Why stick to a faith that causes you so much misery? I’d pick something more enjoyable.’

‘Because it’s the truth.’

‘ Your truth. Why aren’t the Anglicans right, or the Quakers or Catholics? You could even include those in your own Church of Scotland who accept the monarch as the head. Each person is convinced that God is on their side. Maybe they all have their own and there’s more than one.’

His blasphemy shouldn’t surprise me, yet it does. ‘You don’t believe that.’

‘I believe in money and power, and I have both.’

‘Yet you’re only a man and can fall sick and die, just like King Charles.’

‘Come, sit on the bed, Violet.’

‘No.’

‘You and I have shared this bed many times, but I’ve no thought of anything like that. You’ll be quite safe. Sit, please. I’m getting a sore neck looking up at you.’

I’m so dumbfounded that I sit on the edge, near the bottom of the bed.

‘You’re not in any way attractive, Violet. I’ve never thought that. However, you’re intelligent and well educated, surprisingly so for a woman, and just as important, in the entire plantation you’re the only person I completely trust.’

Upon hearing this I’m glad I’m sitting as I fear my legs would otherwise give way beneath me.

‘Trust!’

‘Yes, and that’s not something I’ve ever said. Let’s face it, you could have easily murdered me over the last few days and claimed it was the sickness.’

‘I would still likely have been punished for your death.’

‘Perhaps. Regardless of that, I want you to help handle the accounts for the plantation.’ He makes that sound of his, almost a laugh but not really. ‘You have the most expressive face I’ve ever encountered. You’d be no good at playing cards.’

For an instant I’m reminded of Samuel in our secret place on the hill, when he said my face was brilliantly expressive.

‘I won’t help run the lives of servants and slaves.’

‘Hear me out, decent, Christian, Scottish woman. McKinnon is a good enough overseer who understands what stock, equipment and seeds need ordering to keep the place operating effectively, but doing the accounts falls on me and I’ve always hated it.

You though .?.?. I’d wager my best horse that you’d be diligent, and despite hating me and this place you would be honest in everything you did. ’

‘I won’t do it.’

‘No?’

‘There’s nothing you could offer that would make me.’

‘I wouldn’t be quite so sure.’

‘Threaten me then and have done with it!’

‘You misunderstand me, Violet. If you agree, you would live in the house with Tamar – I know you’re fond of her – and you would never be made to carry out hard labour.

Also, I promise that no man would ever touch you again, including me.

Whether you consider my word to be worth anything or not, I give it. I’ll never lay a hand on you.

‘Think about it, decent, Christian, Scottish woman. You would never be raped again. For as long as you’re here you may keep your dignity.

And let’s face it, whether you handle the accounts or someone else does will not make any difference to the lives of the others.

You might even be able to improve it for them.

And if you haven’t served your time before I die, I promise that you’ll be set free upon my death. ’

I’m stunned beyond words and can only sit on that hideous bed, staring at this loathsome man and his offer. Drummond is a demon in disguise, for he knows exactly what to say and do in order to break someone’s will.

‘Now go away. I’m tired. And take this bowl with you. I don’t like the taste any more.’

*?*?*

When I judge that everyone has eaten their evening meal, I slip out of the house and take Shoshana away from the others so that we can talk without being overheard. Once I’ve explained what Drummond has said, she sits in silence for ages.

‘You want me to tell you what to do, Violet. I can’t. I’m a female slave on a plantation in a strange country run by powerful men and I can’t say anything you haven’t already thought of.’

‘You’re my closest friend and I need your advice. I’ll never forget how you’ve looked after me.’

‘Yes, I took care of you when you most needed it, but this choice is yours alone.’

‘You’re angry.’

She stands, turns away from me and then turns back. ‘You want my blessing because you’re too guilty to say yes by yourself. At least be honest, Violet.’

‘What do you mean?’ I reply, getting up slowly to face her.

‘Your heart has already decided. I don’t blame you.

What woman wouldn’t grab such a chance .

.?. never to work in the fields again .?.

. never to be beaten again .?.?. never to be raped again.

’ Shoshana lists these scenarios as if each one is a dream of hers that she knows will always be out of reach.

‘Take it! Take the offer. But you make me a promise that you’ll care for Tamar as if she was your own daughter. ’

‘Of course.’

‘Swear it!’

‘I promise. I promise I’ll always do everything I possibly can to protect her.’

‘Then become the master’s book person and look after my daughter. I won’t always be around to help.’ A sob bursts from her lips.

‘Shoshana?’

‘It’s Comar!’ she shouts, so unexpectedly that I almost jump backwards. ‘My name is Comar. Shoshana is the master’s name and I’ll not have you call me that any more.’

I don’t understand what’s happening, what it is that I’m really being told. We’re both crying. I have a sense of terrible dread and want to ask why she’s telling me her real name now, but Tamar is running towards us.

‘Violet! Violet! You have to come!’

‘What’s happened?’

‘The master. He’s sick.’

I don’t want to leave. Comar grabs my hand.

‘Go. And never forget what we’ve agreed.’

I’m so confused, yet run back with Tamar to the big house, determined to return to my friend as soon as possible.

We rush up the stairs but at the doorway to the bedroom Tamar stops when I go in.

Drummond lies on his back near the bed as if he’s fallen out of it.

He’s been violently sick and soiled himself as well by the smell.

I pick up a candle from a nearby table and kneel by him.

It’s then that I see the yellow colour to his skin.