Freedom Bound (18 page)

“
WE MUST TAKE
them with us to Nova Scotia,” said Charlotte.

“They can't come with us,” said Nick. “Phoebe didn't enroll. Her name isn't on the passenger list.”

“There must be a way.”

“Earlier, I might have been able to do something. But it's
too late. Enrollment closed in mid-August.”

“But surely, no one would object.”

Nick shook his head. “There won't be any exceptions, not
even on compassionate grounds. The Savannah evacuation
was a madhouse, with Loyalists battling each other to get
onto the boats that would carry them out to the ships.
Southern Command is determined not to let that happen
here. This time, rules will be strictly enforced.” His voice fell.
“I'm sorry. It's beyond my control.”

“Will thee stand by while this child is taken from his
mother and sold?” Mrs. Doughty's determined blue eyes
regarded Nick steadily. “What good are thy principles if thee
fails to act upon them?”

Phoebe was crying and Noah was crying. Patience and
Charity did the most sensible thing and took Joseph outside
for a ride in the handcart.

Charlotte waited a moment for Nick to say something.
When he did not, she said hesitatingly, “What if . . .?”

He turned his head toward her. “Yes?”

“What if . . . we smuggle them on board?” Charlotte
pointed to her trunk. “If I take out half my clothes and if
Phoebe bends her knees, she'll fit.”

“You and I have been given a cabin,” Nick said thoughtfully. “If the trunk is brought to our cabin and not loaded
into the hold . . . Yes. That will work.”

Mrs. Doughty regarded the trunk. “I can ask Friend Levi
to bring his brace and bit to bore air holes.”

Phoebe lifted her face. “You can put me in that trunk, but
not Noah.”

“Of course not,” Charlotte assured her. “He'd cry. Even
with you holding him, he'd be terrified.”

“Then how can you get him onto the ship?” Phoebe
asked.

“In my arms. Look at him and look at me. My hair is
black and nearly as curly. His skin is not much darker than
mine. Who's to say he's not mine if I take him aboard?”

“He hasn't been enrolled, either,” Mrs. Doughty pointed
out.

“For a baby, that's less of a problem,” said Nick. “We've
been working on the evacuation for months. Since we started
enrolling passengers, dozens of women have given birth.
Nobody's going to check the passenger list for a babe in
arms.”

Mrs. Doughty looked skeptical. “Noah's not a babe in
arms. He's twenty-two months old.”

“Look at Charlotte. A big strapping girl is bound to have
a big strapping baby.”

If the situation were not so serious, Charlotte might have
hit him. Instead, she threw back her head and laughed.

That broke the tension. Everybody laughed.

“We'll wrap Noah in a blanket and I'll carry him,” said
Charlotte. “Maybe no one will notice he's the wrong size.”

“What about me?” Phoebe asked. “You can't keep me in a
trunk all the way to Nova Scotia.”

“We'll figure it out as we go along,” said Nick. “If you're
discovered after we're underway, the ship won't turn back.
Phoebe, nobody's going to throw you overboard. I may find
myself in a bit of trouble, but I'll take that as it comes. We
just have to smuggle you aboard and keep you hidden until
we're at sea.”

“But what will happen to me and Noah when we get to
Nova Scotia?”

“The harbour's at a town called Halifax,” said Nick. “Charlotte and I will find you and Noah a place to stay.”

Phoebe lowered her face. “I won't know anybody there.”

“Don't worry,” said Charlotte. “We'll see that you're comfortably settled before we go on to the Upper Country.”

“You won't be lonely,” said Nick. “Hundreds of holders of
General Birch certificates will be evacuated from Charleston
to Halifax. You're almost certain to find people you know.
And you'll make new friends.”

“Jammy will never be able to find me.”

“Yes, he will!” Charlotte exclaimed. “When my family fled
from the Mohawk Valley, nobody knew where we were
going. Not even Nick. But he found me. Knowing Jammy,
I'm sure he can track you down.”

“It may be a year before the Black Dragoons are evacuated,” said Nick. “So you must be patient. When Jammy's
ship reaches Halifax, he'll find you.”

Nick turned to Mrs. Doughty. “What's Friend Levi's address? I'll go now to ask him to bring his brace and bit.”

“His horse and cart, too,” said Mrs. Doughty. “So he can
carry the trunks to the wharf.”

Everything was done in such a rush that there was little time
for embraces and goodbyes. Levi Blount drilled the holes in
Charlotte's trunk and helped Nick load the trunks onto his
cart. There was just enough room on the narrow seat for
Charlotte to sit beside Friend Levi, with Noah on her lap.
Nick walked behind.

Noah seemed happy to be riding on the cart, pulled by
Friend Levi's bay mare. His mother being in the trunk did
not disturb him. He had watched her step into it and lie
down on top of Charlotte's old blue gown.

“It's a game like peek-a-boo,” Phoebe had explained. “You
won't see me before we're on the big boat. And then I'll pop
up to surprise you.”

By the time they reached the harbour, Noah was asleep.

Their ship was the
Esperanza
, tied up at Wharf Eight and
ready to board.

“It's bigger than the
Blossom
,” Charlotte said to Nick, “and
looks much cleaner.”

“She's a new ship, built to carry spices and passengers in
the West Indies trade. Britain requisitioned her for evacuating troops and Loyalists. She's already served in the evacuation of Savannah. In due time, she'll transport Loyalists and
troops from New York City.”

“There's even a gangway, so we don't have to climb a ladder. I was wondering how I'd do that, carrying Noah.”

“Come.” Nick helped her down from the cart and tucked
a blanket around Noah. “Let's go aboard.”

A young officer stood at the top of the gangway, holding
an open register in his hands. His polished buttons gleamed
in the moonlight. He waved to Nick, who waved back. Then
Nick and Friend Levi carried first Nick's trunk and then
Charlotte's onto the deck. Charlotte followed.

They thanked Friend Levi and said goodbye, wishing him
happiness as a married man.

Under the brim of his black hat, there was a twinkle in his
eye. “I have found me a fine wife, and three children ready-made. Who could ask the Lord for a greater blessing?” With
that, he took his leave.

“Glad to see you, Nick,” said the young officer.

“Glad to be aboard, Harry. Is your regiment stopping in
Halifax or going on to Montreal?”

“Don't know yet. Waiting for orders. What about you?”

“I've been assigned to Carleton Island to help move Loyalists to the mainland.”

Charlotte, trying to be inconspicuous, moved into the
shadow of a large crate. Her trunk and Nick's lay on the deck
beside her. She hoped Nick and his friend wouldn't talk too
long, because Noah was getting heavier every second.

“I need these trunks in our cabin,” Nick was saying. “There
are papers in them I have to work on during the voyage. I
can't take any chance these trunks will end up in the hold.”

Glancing toward the trunks, the officer noticed Charlotte.

“I've not been introduced to Mrs. Schyler.”

“Oh.” Nick beckoned her to approach. “Charlotte, I'd like
you to meet Captain Moss. Harry, may I present my wife
Charlotte.”

She bowed as well as she could while holding a twenty-pound toddler in her arms.

“Honoured to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Schyler.” He
turned to Nick. “You never mentioned you and your wife
had a baby.”

“Didn't I? It must have slipped my mind.”

“That's just like you!” Captain Moss laughed. “Always with
your nose in a book or your head in the clouds. You never
notice what's happening in the real world.”

“About those trunks . . .” Nick said.

Captain Moss called to two soldiers who stood at the railing. Taking a quick look at the sheet of paper in his hand, he
said. “Men, take these trunks to Cabin 10.”

“It's not busy now,” he said to Nick. “Most passengers are
already aboard.”

The west wind carried the sound of St. Michael's bells to
Charlotte's ears. She stood listening, knowing that she would
never again hear their beautiful music upon the night air.
Then she and Nick went below.

Phoebe sat up groggily, one hand pressing the top of her
head.

“How was it?” Charlotte asked.

“Just fine, until we went on board. After that, whoever
was carrying the trunk didn't know they had a passenger
inside. They were shifting me this way and that, and then
they tipped me headfirst.” She rubbed the top of her head. “I
got a bit of a bump.”

“That must have been while they were taking the trunk
down to the cabin.”

“I didn't know what was going on. But as long as I could
hear people talking, I wasn't afraid.”

Nick kindled a whale oil lamp that was bolted to a little
table which in turn was bolted to the floor.

By its light Charlotte saw that the cabin was small and
neat. Two bunks, two chairs, and one table. There was a window with four tiny panes.

“I like this ship.” Charlotte sniffed. “It smells of spices.
Cinnamon. Nutmeg. Ginger.”

Noah was already asleep on the lower bunk, where Charlotte had laid him down. He had not wakened since dozing
off in Friend Levi's cart. Phoebe crawled into the bunk
beside him.

“We all need some rest,” said Nick.

Charlotte scrambled up the ladder to the top bunk, followed by Nick.

“This is so much nicer than the
Blossom
,” she said, snuggling against him. As she listened to the lapping of water
against the hull, she felt a peace like a blanket drawn about
them. Soon the gentle rocking of the ship lulled them both
to sleep.

When she woke in the morning, a low sun was streaming
through the little window of the cabin. Footsteps thumped
on the deck planks overhead. She felt the ship surging forward.

“Wake up!” she nudged Nick. “We're moving. Let's go on
deck!”

“You must go alone,” he grunted. “If we're both on deck
at the same time, we have to take Noah with us, and he's still
sleeping.”

“Phoebe's here.”

“Nobody but us knows that. You and I came aboard with
a baby. What sort of parents would leave a baby alone in a
cabin while they went up on deck?”

She hadn't thought about that. But now she did. “Nick,
I'm afraid this is going to be a complicated voyage.”

“For the past four years, my life has been a complicated
voyage. Bringing an illegal passenger on board is just one
more complication.”

She kissed him. “Go back to sleep, dearest. Everything's
going to be fine.” She scrambled down the ladder from the
bunk.

As she left the cabin and made her way to the steep stairs
that led up to the deck, Charlotte was not sorry to be alone.
Her mind was filled with hopes and fears. She needed to be
by herself to think.

Not that she was alone when she reached the deck. Other
passengers were clustered in little knots. Men and women.
Families. Black people talking with other blacks, white people with other whites. Still separated, although bound together in their fate.

These were the Loyalists of the Carolinas. She heard their
soft southern accents, as well as the unfamiliar sounds of the
Gullah tongue spoken by some of the former slaves. Their
sad voices mingled with the creaking of masts and spars as
the
Esperanza
, carried by the tide and driven by an offshore
wind, crossed the harbour bar.