The American Queen, page 25
“Hasn’t been much going on around here of late.”
Reverend Ezel stopped walking as they came upon the brook that separated one part of their land from the other. He turned to Louella. “I hate bringing this news to you. You and your husband built this land to do something positive for our people after emancipation.”
Louella raised a hand. “William might be gone, but we still have concern for our people. Look at all the homes that have been built. Our people have security here.”
“And that’s why it tears at my heart to tell you what’s been going on behind your back.”
Louella scrunched her nose. She squinted as she looked at Reverend Ezel, wondering if age was taking his mind. Not much went on in the Happy Land that she didn’t know about.
Louella checked on the residents as time permitted. She and Robert still held monthly meetings where anyone could come and make a request or spark a fire with a grievance. No one had need to fear her, so why would they keep anything from her?
“Now, Reverend, you know I work hard to keep abreast of all the needs and goings-on of our people. So I can’t rightly say that anything has been kept from me, but you go ahead and speak your mind.”
“The Happy Land waggoners have taken to selling corn liquor. They’re contaminating the parts of South Carolina where I travel with strong drink.”
A gasp escaped Louella’s lips. She’d thought that Reverend Ezel was about to say something about the waggoners being inappropriate as they traveled from town to town. She would have given them a stern talking-to and then the matter would have been resolved.
But if what Reverend Ezel was saying was true, Louella didn’t think a stern talking-to was going to take care of the situation. “The Happy Landers are good and productive people.” She blinked, looked around as if something in the grass or the stream would provide guidance. “Are you sure about this?”
“I wouldn’t bring this to you if I wasn’t.”
Corn . . . corn. The reverend said it was corn liquor being sold. But from what she knew, most of their corn had been destroyed in the last storm they had a few months back. At least, that’s what Robert had told her.
“Reverend, what would be needed to make this corn liquor?”
“What the waggoners are selling is more like whiskey. I saw it produced in my younger days while I lived on a whiskey-producing plantation.”
“I don’t believe you ever told me that before.”
“It’s not something I’m proud of. I saw from an early age how whiskey could destroy a man. It’s more like demon liquor to me, causing men to act in ways they never would if they had their wits about them.”
“I’ve seen men act outside of themselves once they got into a bottle of liquor too, Reverend.” Her brother-in-law had been one of the men she’d seen as a falling-down drunk.
“Does this whiskey need a lot of corn?” Louella asked.
Reverend Ezel nodded. “Fermented corn, sugar, and yeast. Once you have those elements, you’ll be on your way to some strong whiskey.”
Sugar . . . yeast . . . Louella thought back to the sugar and yeast she’d seen on the supply log. All the corn the men loaded onto their wagons that she’d been told wasn’t fit to sell or eat. Had Robert let the people in the Happy Land go without in order to line his pockets with ill-gotten gain?
* * *
The next day, Louella asked Abigail to teach the class while she got in her wagon and rode over to the farthest side of their property—the side where Robert had built his new barn.
Robert wanted her to believe that he wasn’t an enemy, but at the same time, he had taken money from the kingdom to build a barn they didn’t need. He put that barn on the farthest part of their North Carolina land, far from her inspection. Louella had ignored this new barn for over a year. She didn’t have time for Robert’s new toy project.
But today, she made time. Several men were standing outside the barn when she pulled her wagon to a stop. A few of them scurried inside. But Harold, their sergeant at arms, one of the protectors of the land, placed himself in front of the barn door as she stepped down from the wagon.
“Harold,” she said by way of greeting.
“It’s good to see you, Queen. My wife and I don’t see you much since we built our home on this side of the Happy Land.”
“No, I guess we don’t see much of each other. I hope your family’s doing well.”
He nodded. “The kids are growing like weeds.”
“And your wife?”
“Doing good. You should visit with her sometime. She misses being on the South Carolina side.”
“I’ll do that.” Louella folded her hands in front of her long woolen skirt, then pointed toward the door. “I need to go inside.”
Harold didn’t move. “I’m sorry, Queen, but King Robert has instructed me to open these doors for no one without his permission.”
“I see.” Louella stepped back, cleared her throat. “Robert doesn’t lead this land alone. I’m the queen of the Happy Land, and I have come to inspect this barn.” Her eyes bored into his as she added, “I will not be denied.”
Harold didn’t respond.
Louella silently counted One, two, three, as she’d done when her boys were young and she’d made a request of them. If it wasn’t done by the count of three, her boys had learned there would be consequences.
“Harold.” She said his name with a bit of bass in her voice.
The door opened behind Harold. He turned and stepped out of the way as Robert joined them outside. He had a piece of straw in his mouth.
“Louella, what brings you out here?” His eyes jumped from her to the yard, to Harold, and to the side of the barn.
“I had some free time today and thought I’d see why you were so excited about building this new barn.”
“Sure you want to get your fine clothes sullied in a dirty barn?”
She held out an arm and moved Robert aside, then walked into the barn. Each heated step she took sparked images of the fool she was for trusting Robert Montgomery to ever do anything for anyone but himself.
“What in tarnation is going on in here?” There was a burner on the floor. The fire was lit beneath a huge metal contraption that had a copper pipe connected to it. The copper pipe went down into a barrel, and then another part of the pipe came out of the barrel and connected with another barrel.
“Calm down, Louella. This really isn’t as bad as it seems.”
Louella swung around to face Robert. “If it isn’t so bad, then why’d you hide it from me all this time? Why are you stealing the corn our people could be feeding their families with to do your devilment?”
He coughed and then coughed again as if something had gone down the wrong pipe and was choking him.
“You all right?” Louella stepped toward him.
“I’m fine.” He held up a hand while clearing his throat. “I found a way for us to earn money after that railroad took most of our business. You should be happy.”
“Happy?” Louella’s head bobbed backward as she contemplated being happy over the king of the Happy Land causing others to stumble and become possessed by this demon liquor.
“Why would I ever be happy about this abomination you’ve brought on us?” Louella turned around, pointing at one contraption after the next. The burner, the pot still, the boiler, and the condenser. “I want this whole operation shut down.”
Robert laughed in her face. “I can’t shut this down. We’re doing good business. I’m bringing money back to the Happy Land.”
“If you’re bringing so much money to us, why we been tightening our belts?” Louella turned to the men who were all standing around, looking as if they’d rather be anywhere else but here. “Is he splitting the profits with y’all, or are y’all going home and watching your wives scrounge up enough food to feed the family each day?”
Louella pointed at the pot still and told the men, “No one has had corn muffins in the Happy Land in six months. We been rationing out the corn to each family. I’m sure you men done heard complaints from your wives about that.”
No one responded.
Louella turned back to Robert and shouted at him, “You’re a thief, and you’re no good for this kingdom! I knew it from the beginning, but these men wanted you to lead them . . .
“They stand by you now, even though you’re taking food out of their families’ mouths. But I won’t stand by you.”
Robert took the straw out of his mouth and threw it to the ground. “What you gon’ do?”
He looked as if he wanted to challenge her authority to tell him what he could and couldn’t do, but Louella wasn’t scared of Robert or any of his cohorts. She told him, “The first thing I’m going to do is appoint watchers over our crops. You won’t take another ear of corn out of the mouths of our children. The next thing I’m going to do is report you to the authorities.”
He laughed again. “There’s no law against selling liquor.”
“There’s a crime in not paying the taxes on your liquor sales, and since I keep the books and no liquor sales have ever been turned in to me, I know you’re not paying taxes.”
Robert huffed. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.” Louella started walking toward the door. She pointed back toward the moonshine equipment. “I want it all torn down.” She stopped and glared at him. “I promise you this: I will see you in jail before I let you pervert God’s people with your wicked ways one day longer.”
Chapter 37
The night took its sweet time . . . seemed like it went on for hours longer than it used to when William lay beside her. Most things took more effort now that William had gone home to glory.
But when the night released its hold, Louella jumped out of bed ready to tackle the new day. To see if it would bring sweetness or sorrow. But no matter what, her boys brought her joy every day.
Joshua took the wagon over to Possum Hollow so he could attend his last year of school. Waties went to the field to harvest the potatoes. If nothing else, they would all have some potato soup and mashed potatoes with their meals. They would have to wait another six months to harvest the corn. But Louella would make sure that everyone in the Happy Land received their fair share of that harvest.
“Good morning, Mama Sue. How are you doing?” The sun had cracked the sky. Her grandmother could have slept in if she pleased. But she’d gotten up early for so many mornings that her internal clock wouldn’t let her sleep too late.
“I’m doing much better this morning. These old bones get tired sometimes is all.”
“That’s why I want you to rest more.”
Mama Sue waved that off. “I’ll have plenty time for resting when they bury me. But as long as I’m able, I’m gon’ keep getting out of that bed and taking care of you and these chillun.”
“Okay, but don’t talk about being buried. I don’t want to hear that.”
“I’m sorry, chile, but I’m getting older. The good Lord is going to call me home sooner rather than later, and I don’t want you crying over me when you’ve got this whole kingdom to run.”
Her grandmother was eighty-seven years old. She’d lived a good, long life. But Louella wanted more and couldn’t bear to think about losing another person. Yet she understood the cycle of life, so she said, “I pray that you’ve known peace these last few years.”
Mama Sue put scrambled eggs on a plate and handed it to Louella. “Don’t you ever doubt it. You have lifted my head, sweet girl. There’s only one thing left for me to see in this world and then I can die a happy woman.”
Louella knew the one thing her grandmother desired. It was also her desire. She didn’t know if it would ever come to pass, so she didn’t entertain it with further conversation. She ate her eggs, then washed off her plate. “I’m heading over to the school. I’ll see you for lunch.”
Louella worked on vowel sounds with the children on the right side of the room while Abigail worked on handwriting drills on the left side of the room. When their session was over, Louella sent the children home. Then she turned to Abigail. “What’s going on with you? You’ve been kind of quiet today.”
“Thinking over some things.”
While taking papers off the kids’ desks, Louella asked, “Like what?”
“For one thing,” Abigail said with a grin, “Femi told me how you shut down King Robert’s moonshine operation.”
“You knew about that?”
Abigail shook her head. “They kept everything they were doing in that barn hush-hush. Femi didn’t even know. But last night while on patrol, Larry told Femi what had been going on and how you put a stop to it.”
“I told him to stop. I’m not sure if he actually stopped, but he won’t be stealing any more corn from us for his moonshine. I can promise you that.”
“Oh no, he stopped. Larry told Femi that you put the fear of God in King Robert. He had the whole contraption taken down. Said something about not wanting to spend his last days in prison.”
Louella sat down in her chair at the front of the classroom and took her pencil out to review the paperwork. “He made the right decision.”
“I wish I could’ve been there to see his face when you threatened him.” Abigail laughed.
“It’s not funny. I didn’t want to do that in front of his men, but he left me no choice. But I’m glad I could put a smile on your face.”
Abigail sighed. She walked over to Louella and leaned against one of the kid’s desks. “I do have something to tell you.”
Louella put the papers down. “Nothing’s wrong with the kids, is there?”
Abigail shook her head. “The boys are fine, but I have an interview for a teaching position in Greenville.”
Louella let out a whoosh of air, like she’d been punched in the gut. Others had left the Happy Land, and she was okay with that. Her people were free to do whatever was best for them. Losing Abigail was different.
But no matter how much it hurt, she wouldn’t take this moment from Abigail with her own selfish desires. Forcing herself to smile, Louella said, “This the moment you’ve been dreaming about. You’ve helped me and Reverend Allen teach for years.”
“Thanks to you, I was able to receive my teaching certificate. So when I heard about the position in Greenville . . .”
Silence mingled with missing-you-already sighs. Louella got out of her seat and came around to Abigail. She pulled the woman into her arms. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I don’t have the job yet,” Abigail told her as they ended their embrace.
“They would be fools not to hire you. I’ll give you a reference, and I’m sure Reverend Allen will do the same.”
Abigail sniffed as a tear rolled down her face. “If I get the job, we’ll have to move to Greenville.”
Louella started crying as well. She wiped the tears from her face. “I know.”
“I’ll miss you terribly.”
“Me too,” Louella told her. But then a glimmer of a smile crept across her face. “But you know what . . . Clara moved to Hendersonville. She and I have promised to visit each other, so now I’ll also have a friend in Greenville to visit.”
“I’m not only a friend, Queen Louella. We’re sisters. No bit of distance will ever change that.”
“No, it won’t change that.” But that didn’t stop Louella’s heart from hurting. She was losing her sister . . . her best friend. Even as her heart hurt, she thought back to the day she first offered to teach Abigail how to read.
Abigail was about to make something of herself, and Louella couldn’t wait to see her sister shine. They parted ways. Louella was headed home with a heavy heart when Larry ran over to her with frantic and fear-struck eyes.
“Queen Louella, we need you. Come quick.”
“Who needs me? What’s got you out of sorts?”
“It’s King Robert. Something’s wrong with him.” Larry took off running toward Robert’s house. Louella followed him, walking as fast as she could. Then when Larry stood on Robert’s porch, waving her on, she ran the rest of the way.
“We got him to his bed, but he don’t look good,” Larry told her.
Louella opened the door and walked into Robert’s house. She took note of the Elizabethan sofa and chair and found herself wondering if he’d had that furniture shipped in or if Joe had made them.
Louella held her breath as she stepped inside Robert’s room. She didn’t know what she would do if she saw him unconscious in the same way William had been brought home to her the day before he died.
His eyes were open and he was alert, but he reached out to her. “Help me, Louella. Death is upon me.”
Chapter 38
Robert didn’t die that day. He had the kind of sickness that lingered on. Louella brewed every herb they had in the kingdom and gave them to him, but nothing raised him up again.
Dr. Morris came to the Happy Land to check on him. When he finished looking Robert over, Dr. Morris told Louella, “I’ve seen this before. It doesn’t end well.”
“But you know medicine, Dr. Morris. There has to be something you can do.”
“I wish there was, especially after what you did for my mother.” The look on his face didn’t bring her comfort. He reached in his bag and handed Louella a pill bottle. “Give him this for the pain.”
Louella took the bottle, but she questioned Dr. Morris again. “You went to medical school, right?”
He nodded. “I did.”
“And there’s nothing in any of them books you studied that can help Robert?”
Dr. Morris patted her on the shoulder. “Make him as comfortable as you can.” With that, he left her standing there with pills in her hand and no good news to share with her brother-in-law.
She set up around-the-clock nursemaids to give Robert the best care they could. She had to oversee the kingdom during the day, but she sat with her brother-in-law several nights a week.
“Those nephews of mine are growing up to be fine men.”
Louella was seated next to Robert’s bed. She smiled. Waties brought Robert breakfast every morning before he went off to the fields, and Joshua made sure his uncle had his nightly meal when he arrived home from school.
