CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The China ship seemed to follow the Princess into port, just as it shadowed her course changes every time in the last few days.
Lane could see that it was a large vessel now, for she dropped anchor very close to him.
They were on the far side of Cuba; that is to say, the southwest corner of the island.
Joseph had explained that the owner of the plantation he had been on lived close to here.
The man’s name was Lopez, a Juan Lopez. He ran the little village visible now, just up on a hill.
Studying the other ships in the bay, Lane saw more vessels that looked like the one he had ran ahead of these last three days.
It appeared that Juan Lopez was very interested in slave trading, and this sickened Lane.
“Lord.” Lane began. “I ask you for help, for I’m very weak today. I don’t know how to deal with people selling other people. Greed isn’t something I want to understand. Please keep it from ever finding a way into my heart. And, I thank you.”
The plan had already been developed. Nobody had any questions.
Tiger would go ashore with David. They were both European, and David had the look and language skills needed to make this work.
Just before the launch would have set out for the landing, however, Tiger came up with an addition to what they had already discussed.
“I’ve been thinking.” Tiger began. He was looking at Lane and David.
“We ought to take Joseph with us.”
Joseph was close enough to hear this, and he asked. “Why should I go? I don’t want to see Juan Lopez, not ever again.”
Tiger held up his hands, as if to say calm down. “Your familiar face will add weight to the story we’re going to tell Juan Lopez. We’re looking for somebody on his property that speak Hebrew. You’d be the obvious person who’d have sent us to see him.”
Lane shook his head. “I don’t agree.”
David also held up his hand. “I’m with Lane on this. Your thinking is backwards, Tiger.”
That got under Tiger’s skin. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t believe whole-heartedly in the rest of the men; rather, he didn’t like being told he was wrong. “What do you mean backwards?”
ZIBA surprised everyone by speaking up. They mean that Joseph speaks perfectly good Hebrew. If he’s with you, you’ll draw into question why you’re simply not taking Joseph along to Joppa. I got a better idea.”
Everybody turned to look at ZIBA.
“Speak up!” Tiger invited.
“It’s simple.” ZIBA explained. “I’m going with you, too. The story is going to be that I’m Joseph’s new owner.”
Joseph looked frightened. “How is that going to help?”
ZIBA continued. “Simple. I’m not willing to sell you to David. But, in so much as I have business on this island, I agreed to travel with you to speak to this Juan Lopez. I’ll ask him about property and sugarcane.”
Joseph was smiling now. “That’ll work. Lopez will be thinking about the sale of property and produce. It’ll get his mind on gold. And, Lane’s father isn’t as young as he was. I think it’ll help.”
There were no negative opinions now. But, it meant that only Stephan would be left aboard the Princess.
Lane and his namesake would depart from the boat as soon as the launch came back.
They’d be following the others, along with the second oar man from the launch. They were the backup plan, and here’s how it would happen.
If the attempt to save Lane’s father wasn’t working, if Juan Lopez decided he would not sell Lane’s father, they were going to do something on the property to take everybody’s attention off of the sale.
They would sneak Lane’s father away, and maybe not just Lane’s father.
It would be done in such a way that those on Juan Lopez’s property could not be accused or suspected. This would happen only as a last resort.
“Lord.” Lane prayed. “Please don’t let us fail. We’re so close. Please don’t let my father suffer any longer.”
Maybe an hour later, Lane and Lane shadowed the other party as they left the tiny village. It would be another couple hours to Juan Lopez’s plantation. They’d have to stay close.
Walking was actually doing his legs some good, for he had been on the Princess for a week. Legs and muscles need to be used.
“Tell me about your home life!” Lane spoke to his cousin. “When did the family leave Shiloh?”
The young man spoke gently of Lane’s mother. He told how she had often spoken to the Lord, both in this present time and also of those days gone by.
Lane thought, as he listened, that the boy’s life had mirrored his own in a lot of ways. The things his mother had said to the boy were very much the same lessons she’d shared with Lane.
The story contained nothing of sadness, or loneliness; rather, it sounded like his mother had found a home for herself in Shiloh. She’d been every bit the sister highly honored, or an auntie to the boy.
It didn’t take them long to reach the Lopez place.
The plantation was huge, and servants ran to and fro doing their various tasks.
Lane and the others with him didn’t actually go onto Juan Lopez’s property. They’d been following the other group, but not as if they were connected.
And, things worked out, because others were traveling the same road.
It appeared that some kind of official function was going to take place on the Lopez Plantation today, for some of the people from town had also walked out this way.
Lane now realized that some of the men off the Chinese ships were also here on the property. The public nature of whatever was going on seemed perfect for this rescue.
“Lord.” Lane prayed. “We’re going to need your help. Please don’t allow my father to suffer any longer as a slave.”
Oddly, the mood on the Lopez Plantation was festive. There really wasn’t any need to sneak around, for there were hundreds of people moving onto or off the property.
Lane saw a device called a pillory. It amounted to a wooden restraint for the slaves. Their necks and arms were locked into place to prevent them from moving away.
The Lopez family obviously believed in using this device, for there were many of them in plain view.
Lane spoke very good Spanish, and it didn’t take him long to understand that an auction was about to take place.
The two men with him, his cousin and the oar man from the launch, they used their eyes to watch for anything and everything that might come.
Lane’s namesake often spoke in their native language to keep what he was saying a secret.
And, the owners took it for granted that Lane was here to buy slaves.
He was told where to go and to whom he ought to speak. All was very friendly but for the fact that slaves were bought and sold.
Lane used the situation to move about the Plantation. He was looking for anyone who might be his father, and he sought to learn as much as he could.
“What was the name of that village?” Lane asked his namesake, but he already knew the answer. He was checking mostly, to see whether the young man was paying attention.
There was no hesitation. “GUANE.” His cousin responded. “What are you thinking?”
A direct question merits an honest answer, so Lane told him the truth. “I was thinking that a young man might not be paying attention to details. It was a test.”
Lane’s cousin smiled. “You’re forgetting that I grew up with your mother. She taught me to pay attention.”
That brought a smile to Lane’s face. “She’s the one to insist on paying attention. You’re right.”
Lane’s cousin now asked a question. “My turn. Did you see where Joseph ended up?”
Lane followed his cousin’s index finger to see that Joseph was locked in one of the restraint devices he saw earlier. None of the other men from the Princess were with him, and this upset Lane.
Joseph spoke up, though, using their native language. “Don’t give it away. Keep walking as though I’m nobody you’ve ever seen, like another slave you don’t care about. This is part of the plan.”
Lane didn’t like it, but he followed the advice. He marked in his mind that, should the need come up, he knew where Joseph was and could come get him.
They spent several more minutes, perhaps an hour, locating the place of the auction itself.
Lane could see a conversation with a Spanish looking man. The name Lopez came to his mind. The guy was fat and reminded Lane of Pedro Taylor back in Joppa.
It appeared that some sort of offer was being made by the big man to show his house servants to them, and it was obvious that Lane’s father was under discussion.
Lane knew that Tiger had sufficient funds to pay for any ten slaves on the property. And, he listened to find out if he could overhear the location of his father.
“Lord.” Lane heard his cousin praying aloud. “Please make this easy for us. It’s almost impossible to control an urge to do something rash. Please help me to steady my heart.”
Lane agreed with every word his cousin had spoken, so he spoke, too.
“And, Lord. Please show us where to go and what to do.”
The oar man was listening to Lane and his cousin, but he was also paying attention to most everything the eyes could uncover. Without speaking, he motioned to Lane that he thought they ought to move on.
Lane gave the oar man a look to see what was on his mind, and the man nodded in the direction of the path leading between two barns.
Lane and his cousin followed the oar man, and then they heard him say. “We should be looking for the best way out of here, maybe a couple of ways in case we have to do something quickly.”
This was a good idea and, after they looked over the rest of the property, once they’d figured out how to disappear without being seen, they came back to watch some of the auction.
Male and female slaves went up for sale on the block. Some were older but most were young.
They were from the places Lane had already seen, or from the lands around the bodies of water he’d spent the last twenty years living by.
A couple of differences were those from the Chinese ships, the ones in the harbor with the Princess.
Chinese people were not completely new to Lane, but it angered him that these sailors were selling their own people to work in the sugarcane fields.
All three of the men kept their eyes open for Tiger or ZIBA. They wanted to know how the negotiations for Lane’s father were going.
Suddenly, the oar man spoke to Lane. “I don’t see Joseph anymore.”
A quick look in the direction of the pillory, the restraint used to hold misbehaving slaves, revealed that Joseph was gone.
Lane looked quickly to the clouds, remembering his childhood belief that clouds marked the support of the Lord in his life, and he saw plenty of them.
He then saw both ZIBA and Joseph. They were over by a wagon, but they weren’t alone.
ZIBA gave Lane a gesture from their childhood. It was a code that involved touching the nose with the left hand. It meant to pay attention, but it also meant to keep out of the conversation.
Lane then saw an older man approach ZIBA and the wagon. The older man wasn’t Lane’s father, but it was easy enough to see that the man was also a servant on this plantation.
There was a conversation between Joseph and the older man, and then another signal was given.
This one came from ZIBA, too. It meant that the time to depart was here.
Lane didn’t want to leave the property without his father, but he was anxious to learn what was going on. He was also willing to trust ZIBA to do the right thing to protect the family.
Lane gave the other two men with him the information. “ZIBA says it’s time to go.”
Neither one argued the point, nor did they ask by what manner the message came, for Lane had spoken with authority.
It took less time getting off the property than getting to the Juan Lopez Plantation.
On the road, though, Lane’s namesake asked the question. “How did you hear from ZIBA?” We didn’t even see him.”
Lane smiled. “It was from our childhood. He used an old code, a hand signal really. Let me show you!” He then took his left hand to his nose.
“That one,” Lane explained, “meant to pay attention. Here’s the other one.”
Lane used his same hand to tap his chest three times.
His cousin spoke. “I’ve seen that one. In the camps. The shepherds do that.”
Lane confirmed it. “That’s right. ZIBA and I used to watch over sheep. We learned from them.”
The oar man stopped walking and pointed out some over hanging trees. Each one blocked the path they were travelling, and the man spoke up. “The other path leads back to the village. Let’s wait up here someplace. The rest of the men ought to be behind us.”
Lane led the others into some other trees, and they all turned around to wait. Nobody spoke.
A few moments passed by, and Tiger approached them from the other direction. David was also with him.
“What are you guys doing?” Tiger asked Lane.
Lane spoke quietly. “We’re going to wait in the trees for ZIBA and Joseph to pass.”
Tiger shook his head. “That’s not going to work.”
“Why not?” Lane’s cousin protested now.
Tiger smiled. “ZIBA and Joseph won’t be coming until tomorrow morning. You’d be here a long while.”
Lane was certain. “Then, we’ll wait.”
Again, Tiger shook his head. “There’s somebody waiting for you both.”
He was indicating Lane and his cousin. “He’s back on the Princess.”
Lane searched Tiger’s eyes and saw nothing hidden in the message, nothing but mirth. “Are you saying that my father’s on the Princess?”
“That’s what I’m saying.” Tiger nodded. He then pointed to David. “We’re going back to the Plantation to mix with people. It’s by invitation.”
Lane had a difficult time understanding why, so he asked about it.
“Why would you want to mix with slave vendors? I don’t get it.”
David spoke up. “We agreed to it before a deal could be made for your father. Calm down. We brought him back to the Princess, because there’s no reason for him to spend another night under threat. He’s a free man now, and he’s back on the boat waiting to greet his family.”
“Thank you.” Lane spoke to the Lord and gave credit where it was due. “Thank you for setting him free.” The rest he spoke to his cousin and the oar man. “Let’s go!”
Tiger grabbed Lane’s sleeve just before anyone could run off. “We’re not going to stay any longer than we have to. But, we’re going back for ZIBA and Joseph.”
Lane could hardly hear what Tiger said, for he wanted to return to the Princess to see his father.
Tiger kept talking. “You won’t have to wait for us past the morning.”
Lane nodded and thanked the men; then, he, the oar man, and his younger cousin ran in the direction of the village. Any distance seemed like nothing. It was as though they were only five steps from the bay.