Raised By Wolves 1 - Brethren (21 page)

I wondered what this said of him. I had heard such sentiments before, not in application to the tropics, but in many a gentleman’s study, and of course from Steins. According to most wolves, all sheep are lazy. This is merely because they are sheep. If they were wolves they would not work for another at all. And the wolves always sense this, even if they cannot name it as such. The sheep are weak because they do not fight back, therefore they lack ambition, therefore they are lazy in the eyes of their masters.

I did not think Donoughy truly a wolf, no more than I had thought Steins one: ironically, for the same reason other wolves think sheep are lazy. If Donoughy and Steins were truly wolves, they would not be working for my father. This was especially true of Donoughy, as land was free here. They had been well-taught by wolves, though. In a way, they had been raised by them just as I had. It tempered my anger.

“Mister Donoughy, I am the kind of fool who chooses to befriend men in my employ. I consider the bondsmen on that ship to be in my employ, just as you are. Though we are not off to a fine beginning.

Please understand, I will have no one mistreated. And that will be by my definition of ill-use and not yours.”

As I expected, he immediately looked to Theodore. I was acutely aware that my father’s barrister could render me impotent with but a word. This was my father’s business, not mine. Theodore said nothing.

He still seemed preoccupied with the sky.

Donoughy studied the smaller man’s profile for a time, and turned back to me with a sigh.

“I was hired to manage this plantation, sir. And I was told,” he glanced pointedly at Theodore again, “that my continued employ and my pay would be based upon her profit. When a plantation does well, it can make a man wealthy; but it is not easy, and there is much that can ruin it. Not all cane fields produce to their owner’s expectations. And I don’t know when more Negroes will arrive for sale, and a good number of the men you brought will die no matter how we use them. I need to work the ones that do survive hard.”

“Mister Donoughy, I have never been forced to make men work, but I surmise they will wish to do far more if rewarded and treated kindly. A well-loved horse will run itself to death to please its rider. A well-loved hound will face a boar for its master. I have seen many a well-rewarded and thus loyal servant turn the tides of fortune in matters of intrigue.

Just as kind words and coin will quickly turn a misused man into his master’s worst enemy. I do know a little of men.”

He frowned thoughtfully, and I sensed that he agreed with me. His continued employ was of far greater concern to him, though. He was indeed a sheep.

“And now that I understand your concern,” I continued in a kinder tone, “perhaps I can allay that somewhat. The success and profitability of this plantation is my responsibility. Your job is to insure that it is managed to the best of your ability within the parameters that I set.

I cannot guarantee that we will all be here two years hence, but I can assure you I will be discharged from this endeavor if it goes poorly long before you will. I will take all blame if that is to pass, and shelter any other who is involved from my father’s displeasure. Believe me, he already dislikes me and thinks you both fine fellows. If we do it according to my desires and it fails, he is not likely to blame you. And understand this as well: if this venture should fail, my father will not be turned out of his house over the matter. He does not risk what he cannot lose.”

I heard a quiet chortle beside me and looked over to find Theodore smirking, his eyes still fixed upon the sky.

Donoughy considered me. He finally reached some decision and nodded. “I will trust you on that, sir, as you surely know your father better than we do. I do not wish to mistreat a man, but I will make them work.”

“I do not think any man on that ship is a stranger to hard work or lives in fear of it. What they are afraid of is starvation, the plague, forced military service, and all manner of things they left England to avoid.

And some of the younger men did come here seeking their fortunes, because they knew well there was none to be had in England. Why did you journey here?”

He studied me with a frown that finally melted into a smirk and a self-deprecating chuckle. “Debt. I was indentured and sold to a ship’s captain for transport to Barbados for a debt. I was a shiftless bastard in my youth.”

“Good Lord, man,” I smiled. “If I ascribed my own history to every man I met, I would walk about with a sword in hand at all times and trust no one.”

This seemed to surprise him until he realized I jested. It brought forth another chortle from Theodore. Fletcher frowned at me. I smiled good-naturedly; I had only been partly in jest.

Our initial battle laid to rest, we rented horses at the livery and rode inland. I thanked the Gods that it appeared I only need be vigilant with one of the men I was to work with. Theodore seemed to truly be my ally.

Fletcher and Donoughy began to talk and established some degree of rapport. Thus Theodore and I were regaled with an exchange of information betwixt them concerning grain mills and sugar cane plants for all five or so miles to Spanish Town. I had decided the mechanical aspects of this whole endeavor were in seemingly knowledgeable hands by the time we reached the little hamlet the Spanish had called Villa de la Vega. It did indeed sit on a wide plain next to the Copper River, or Rio Cobre as people still seemed wont to call it.

Spanish Town had been the Spanish capital, and was technically the English one as well, as the court and Governor were here. However, it was a dusty and somewhat vacant little place as compared to Port Royal. This was due to all the industry of Spanish Town, or anywhere else in the Jamaica hinterlands, taking place on plantations, not among closely packed wharfs and warehouses.

We ate at a small inn and proceeded across the plain to the acreage.

We passed several plantations, and Donoughy stopped to show us cane and explain how it was planted and harvested over a two year cycle, how many men it took per acre, and so on.

When he described planting and weeding the fields with gangs of men, I asked, “Do we not use plows here?”

He shook his head and sighed. “Can’t right off. As you see, the trees are thick here. When we clear a field it leaves a number of stumps. Cane can be planted around them. We wouldn’t be able to plow through them, and we don’t need to spend the time removing them.”

“Aye, I can see that if speed is of the essence,” I said, “but surely after the initial crop is planted, there is time to clear the next fields properly so that they can be plowed.”

“Not enough men, sir. It will take the entire field gang to keep the fields weeded and fertilized and kill rats. And you want to keep them busy, sir, especially after we get Negroes. Can’t let the buggers sit about and do nothing; they revolt.”

“I see,” I said and rode ahead. I did understand, and I wanted little to do with it all: which is, of course, why I knew I must be involved.

I was sweltering in the heat, and felt sympathy for my livery horse, since I had doffed my coat and laid it across the poor animal’s broiling haunches. If not for the hat, I was sure my brain would boil in my skull.

Theodore assured me one acclimated to the heat and humidity soon enough; but I had every reason to doubt him at the moment, as I was miserable.

I thought of men toiling all day in these conditions and then trying to sleep at night in the same, and I wanted even less to do with the business. And even beyond my concern for others, I was damned if I was going to live out here on the land. Sleeping at Theodore’s had been uncomfortable enough last night. I had grown accustomed in the final weeks of the voyage to sleeping on deck. The cabin had been too hot and enclosed, with no breeze to whisk the sweat away: much like Theodore’s guest room. I felt no wind on this plain, either. I wondered what I was to do. We rode along the river, and finally reached the plot a good three leagues north of Spanish Town. It was wide and flat and snaked along between the river and a hill that could not easily be farmed upon. The hill was part of the acreage, though, which is why this plot had not been snapped up by an earlier planter. We climbed it, and Donoughy pointed out where he would put the mills and works and where the first field should be cleared. I nodded appreciatively at his planning, and then let him wander off to show Fletcher a thing or two in detail, such as the lay of the land where they might put a water mill.

I had brought my muskets; and I proceeded to load and fire them, as it had been many months since I had done so and I was in the mood to punch holes in something. Theodore watched me with interest but declined to join in, saying that he had almost broken his shoulder the one time he had been foolhardy enough to fire a musket. So I set about familiarizing myself with the unique aim, trigger movement, and other peculiarities of both pieces.

The wheellock was, of course, precise in all the ways I had remembered: from the smoothness of her firing mechanism to the trueness of her aim. However, I had forgotten how tedious and prone to irritation the winding of the wheel was. The flintlock was a fine weapon, and her less delicate firing mechanism seemed as hearty as it was simple in comparison. The sights were not as precise, but I soon found the aim necessary to compensate, and could put ball after ball into the same square foot of tree trunk at a hundred paces.

“You shoot well, but you reload too slowly,” Theodore observed.

I was in the process of doing same. “I have been aiming for precision as opposed to speed. As you are well aware, a poorly loaded musket will end my life far faster than the tropical vapors.”

“Aye, of course,” he shrugged. “You’ll just have to get faster if you’re going roving.”

I finished ramming the ball and patch home and paused to regard him. “Will I, now? Well, from your counsel, I should take a good half year and let myself season before even considering it. This would afford me a great deal of time to practice.”

He grinned. “You won’t last that long. You want nothing to do with this endeavor.”

“Am I so obvious?” I finished loading the pan and fired off another round. “And are you so ready to be rid of me?”

He regarded me thoughtfully. “Aye, I think you will be a detriment to this endeavor.”

“Theodore, I have decided to harness myself, not to my father’s wishes, but to those men.”

He seemed to give great thought to his next words. “You possess a large heart and a beneficent spirit. You should be commended for it.”

“Yet?” I prompted.

“You cannot be so naïve as to think your sentiments are the way of the world.”

“Nay, I do not. That is why I feel someone must champion those that cannot do it for themselves. The sheep need shepherds,” I muttered.

Theodore frowned. “Marsdale, it sounds as if you missed your calling.”

I laughed. “Theodore, let me tell you how I have spent these past ten years.” And so I did. I told him how I had earned a living as a hired sword and duelist, and begged and borrowed my way across Christendom, leaving dead men in my wake.

At first he was bemused; and then true amusement took hold of him, and he laughed so that he was forced to lean upon his horse.

“Sir,” he finally said, and made show of wiping his tears away, “I feel you may have come to the correct island for the wrong endeavor. And yet you are so charitable. Do you seek atonement?” he asked seriously.

This gave me pause. I had not considered my actions in that possible light. “I do not think so. I merely do as I do. I follow the dictates of my conscience and act as I will.”

He chuckled and then waved off my frown. “I mean no offense.” He nodded thoughtfully. “Does your father realize you are so liberal in your love of your fellow man?”

“How do you mean that, sir?” I grinned. “I do not know if he realizes the depth of my philanthropic bent, but he is aware I favor men.”

“Ah, I meant the former and not the latter. Though now that the subject is broached, does that have much to do with why you traveled so?”“In part, aye, in a large part.”

He smiled and thought for a moment. “Have you taken so many under your wing before, for such an extended venture as this will be?”

“Nay, and truly I fear I lack the resolve.”

He sighed. “Far be it from me to steer you from the path of righteousness, but Marsdale, you need not do this. Donoughy is not an evil man and I do not feel he will mistreat your men. Furthermore, I will not let him, or allow further concerns of your father’s displeasure to drive him. It is customary to give a manager a base salary and then reward him with a small percentage of the profits. We can simply pay him more to begin with. Your father has allowed me, or rather us, a great deal of discretion in that regard.”

“Thank you,” I said solemnly and quickly waved off his response.

“Thank you for standing by my wishes. I know well that you do not have to.” “Nay, you are correct, I need not take your orders. I am not in your employ,” he sighed. “Yet, I feel you are correct. It has also been my experience that men who are used well and fed well work harder. I believe in showing all men respect, regardless of their station in life.”

I believed him, as I had seen no evidence to contradict his words. He even spoke well to his slaves. I wondered where he came from: England, obviously, but what stratum of society? He was surely not raised by wolves, and there was much about him that reminded me of Rucker.

“I trust you,” I said. “Yet I will not abandon this endeavor. I will try not to block its progress either…”

He waved me off. “You need not be miserable. What will you do here? Work alongside them in the fields? Go, have your own adventures as you are accustomed to doing. You are well-suited to another way of life here in the West Indies. Embrace it.”

I could scarce believe he meant it. “But what if I die on some Spanish gibbet, or drown at sea?”

“You could just as easily perish here of some fever. Or fall from a horse. Or choke on a husk of bread.”

“You truly wish for me to go roving?”