The Virgin of Greenbrier: The Greenbrier Trilogy, Book One

Chapter Four-1

Chapter Four

He walked away. Not ten minutes later a heavier woman, black as pitch, set down a chamber pot near to where Lucretia sat huddled on the floor. White men came to the door in the afternoon, dressed in their riding clothes and were escorted to various rooms. Maids, some black, some white cleaned the floors on their hands and knees, naked. She wanted to look into the other rooms and see what was there, but trying meant leaving the small shelter that the staircase provided. Of all the people who passed by, not one paid any attention to her at all. It was as if she was not even there.

Lucy had just fallen into an uncomfortable sleep curled up against the wall, when the front door was suddenly being pounded on. “Addams, I have a slave here that needs attention!” The door was immediately answered and a man that Lucretia had seen countless times on her own father’s plantation stormed in, dragging a cowering n***o girl in on her knees. “Addams!”

“The doctor is in the surgery, sir. I can tell him you’re here.”

The man flung the girl down carelessly. “No need. I want a refund. She’s of no use to me. Won’t listen to a damn thing I say.” He caught a glimpse of Lucretia cowering in the corner. She knew he recognized her, but it seemed he also knew the rules that had been put on Lucretia’s head for he did not speak to her. Instead, he turned back to the slave who had answered the door. “If he can train her back like she’s supposed to be, I’ll reconsider her, until then he can keep her for himself for all I care as long as I get my money back.”

“I’ll see he gets the message, sir.”

The man left but not without giving Lucretia a second look. Her stomach soured. He knew who she was and why she was here. Who would he tell? Would the whole city find out she was here? God, please get me out of here, she cried inside. Her attention turned back to the slave who had been brought in. She was sobbing and Lucretia could see the stripes of blood that ran down the young woman’s back. Someone else came, helped the girl up and gave her words of comfort. “It’s okay. You won’t go back to him. Master Beau will make sure you don’t go back to him.” They walked right past Lucy and down the hall, supposedly to some place where she could be cared for.

The black woman, the same who had brought the chamber pot, gave Lucy a small pitcher of water and a glass.

“What’s your name?” Lucretia dared to ask, but the woman did not answer. Lucretia took a long drink of the cool water. What was she to learn just sitting here all day with no one to answer her questions? She sighed. A group of three women entered from the hallway behind her, each one naked except for the metal fetters they wore on their ankles and wrists and the collars that adorned their necks. They giggled like schoolgirls. “We have only two weeks until the party! Two weeks! Do you think Master William will be there? I hope Master James comes. He is so handy with that riding crop!” They passed her by without a second glance. Master William? Master James? These were white girls and, by the sounds of them, well schooled and proper. How could they be looking forward to a party in this terrible place? Lucy hung her head in misery.

The shadows in the hallway grew long and dark, cooling the hallway. A scent of ham and cabbage, warm and succulent wafted by and her stomach growled. She’d had nothing but water and a few dry biscuits the black woman had brought her. She’d been able to use the chamber pot quickly while no one was around. Lucretia curled up on the straw mat and dozed. She ached all over from not being able to move around properly. Lanterns were lit in all the rooms, but the fancy chandeliers remained dark. All she could think of was the smell of the food. She was in prison. Trays laden with plates were carried up the stairs past her. In a room to her right, she could hear others chatting and the soft touch of cutlery against fine china. She even heard Dr. Addams’ voice and laughter. He had forgotten her. They all had forgotten she was even here. Lucretia wanted to cry out, to scream at them to come get her and let her go. Anything was better than being left here alone and ignored. Instead, Lucretia curled up on her mat, her back to the hallway, and wept until she could weep no more.

In her fog of dismay, the sounds became muffled and far away. The doors opened and those within seemed to tip-toe past her. Grab one of their ankles and demand to be seen and spoken to and acknowledged. But she couldn’t do it. She just lay there, curled up, tired and broken. Candles were snuffed out.

“Lucy? Are you ready for bed?” It was his voice. It was his hand on her bare shoulder nudging her awake. “Come on.” He pulled her wrists up where he could see them and removed the shackles. “Lucy, come.” She couldn’t move. She didn’t care anymore. Gently he turned her over and lifted her into his arms. Lucretia rested her head on his shoulder and let the tears come again. “I’m sorry, little one, but one day you’ll understand why today happened.” He carried her up the stairs and down the hall and then into his bedroom.

Through half shut eyes, Lucy saw Cassandra, naked, stretched on his bed. The door to the inner chamber was already open. Lucretia kept her head down, her face turned away. She closed her eyes against the shame and fear. She was lowered onto a mattress and the blanket was gently draped over her trembling shoulders. Lucy opened her eyes just enough to see his dark silhouette. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“For what?” He remained as he was, his back to the door, gazing at her with what little light the outer chamber offered.

She wasn’t sure what she was sorry for really or why she’d even said the words.

“Go to sleep, sweet Lucy. We’ll talk in the morning.”

Lucretia snuggled down into the mattress and blankets and tried her best to sleep. She must have dozed a little bit, although there was no way of telling how long. Something woke her. It came again; the sound of someone being slapped and then a cry and a soft laugh, his laugh. Lucy lay in the pitch black of her little room listening and trying to figure out just what it was she was listening to. A woman’s soft moans then the slapping sound again, a hand to flesh over and over again followed by a whimper. They spoke in soft tones, but Lucretia could not string the words into anything that made sense. Then there would be silence for a moment or two and moans and movements.

Moving to her hands and knees, Lucy crawled over to where she thought the door must be. It was too dark to know for sure but once she found the wall, she felt her way along it until she found it. Her hands slid up to the latch. Locked, of course. A soft waft of fresh air brushed across her knees. Pressing the side of her head to the floor, Lucy tried to see through the gap under the door. Beyond, the room glowed with dying firelight. But she could hear things better from this spot. Lucretia tipped her head and listened intently.

It was Cassandra and Dr. Addams. Cassandra made most of the noise with her moans and sighs and whimpers. The doctor seemed to be talking to her in a low, soft, constant flow of words that alone drew groans from the colored. He must be doing something else for his words alone could not have pulled from her such noises. Lucretia could hear them kiss. Cassandra’s moans were filled with desire and pleads.

“You know, dear Cassy, I will never take you completely.” Lucretia heard the doctor say in a more distinct whisper.

“Please, Master. All these years, please. I’ll do anything for you; you know that, anything you say,” Cassandra begged.

Their voices stopped, followed by more moans and kissing. “I will give you the pleasure of release but nothing more, you know that,” Dr. Addams told her. Cassandra’s breaths grew quicker, more urgent and gasping, more desirous.

“May I, Master?”

“Yes, you may.”

Within seconds, Cassandra let out sounds the likes of which Lucy had never heard. The cries were almost ones of agony, nearly screaming and yet at the same time, touched with joy. Lucy’s hand strayed down to where they had shaved her. She tingled there and found the very wetness that the doctor had mentioned to her before. No, this was wrong. Lucretia pulled her hand suddenly away from that spot, feeling shamed even in the darkness where no one would ever know but herself. Her skin prickled with a flash of heat then of cold and sweat broke out across her back and the nape of her neck.

The sounds beyond the door grew still. Lucretia leaned against the wood a little more, relaxing. What was this world her father had sold her into?

“Feel better?” the doctor murmured, barely audible.

“Yes, Master. Thank you.”

“In the morning, you will go and see Max. Spend the day with him if you like. That should appease you for a while.” There was the rustling of blankets. “For now, go to your own room.”

“My own?” Cassandra’s tone was dismayed.

“Go.”

“Yes, Master.” There was the pad of Cassandra’s feet and the gentle opening of the door followed by the click of the latch.

Lucy groped her way back to the mattress and blanket, afraid, yet hoping in the same breath that the doctor would come for her next. She knew nothing of these things. She had barely been kissed. She knew exactly what she had heard; and, although it sounded pleasurable in one way, there was also an element of pain in Cassandra’s cries. What did it feel like? Lucretia wondered, pulling the blanket up over her shoulder.

The lock on her door clicked. Lucy quickly closed her eyes, pretending to sleep. Her heart raced. She prayed he could not hear it or know she was really awake.

His hand touched her hair as if petting a cat he feared to wake. Lucretia fought the urge to roll over and look up at him. How could she look at him after what she had just listened to? It had to be an offense, what she’d just done. His hand pushed the blanket off her bare shoulder. Lucretia lay stock still, controlled her breathing, kept her eyes shut, but she could do nothing to slow her heartbeat. The doctor emitted a pleased sound, moving the blanket from her even more until she was not covered at all. No one could sleep through that, she realized. He would know she was faking if she remained motionless any longer. Lucretia turned; half opened her eyes and blinked. He’d lit a lantern in the other room, but it seemed glaring bright to her dark adjusted eyes.

“Please don’t,” she dared to whisper.

“Don’t what, little one?”

She wouldn’t cry this time. No more crying. “Don’t…do...”

“Don’t do what I just did to Cassandra? Did you hear?”

Lucretia nodded, hoping he could see her. “Please...”

His fingers brushed over her bare breast. “No, I won’t. But you have to do one thing to prevent it.” A fingertip touched her lips. “You call me Master and I won’t, for now anyway.”

She swallowed hard. Calling someone Sir was easy enough. It was how she had been raised, but to call him Master? “Please don’t…M-Master.”

“Good girl.” He drew back. “I’m told you did very well today and only spoke once to Abby, the cook.”

“She didn’t answer me.” Slowly, Lucretia pulled the blanket up around her. Her eyes were adjusting to the dim light, and the outline of his face was just visible. He was handsome again with his closely trimmed mustache and goatee.

He smiled. “What did you learn today? Anything?”

Lucretia could only think of the loneliness of being ignored. Was that what he’d meant for her to feel? “I don’t know, sir. I was lonely and scared.”

“You didn’t like being left like that? I thought you’d enjoy the solitude.” He was quiet for a moment, considering her dilemma, “Anything else?”

What did he want to hear? What was he searching for? “There were some girls who mentioned a party in two weeks. They sounded eager for it. And there was a man, a friend of my father’s. He brought his slave back.”

The doctor frowned. “Yes, he has to be dealt with. He’s the problem, not the girl.”

Lucretia had never liked that man and told Dr. Addams as much. “He saw me.”

“Yes, I know.” Quiet again as Lucretia studied his profile. He turned towards her and, much to her surprise, reached down to tug the blanket over her more. “Get some sleep, little one. We have a busy day tomorrow.” Dr. Addams leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. The door was shut behind him, and the latch locked once more.

Lucretia lay awake far into the night. The events of the day overwhelmed her to tears. When she did eventually sleep, it was in misery. What few dreams she had were more a jumble of feelings than images. From these, she would wake only to succumb to tears once more.